


How It Happened

by orphan_account



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead RPF
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Friendship/Love, Relationship(s), Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-01 01:10:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8601310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Janie meets Norman after she is in an accident and he comes to her rescue.  Her decision to thank him may result in more than she thought it would.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this first chapter in about ten minutes, it just came to me while I was daydreaming instead of working. I plan to continue it because I have some good ideas, I hope you like what I've wrote so far, and if you don't, please be nice anyway :-)

It was late. Probably close to 1 in the morning. Janie had just gotten done with her shift at the hospital where she worked as an ER nurse. She'd been doing a lot of swing shifts lately, and the late nights and early mornings were beginning to take their toll on her. She could feel her eyes wanting to close as she drove down the dark back roads of rural Georgia towards her house. She'd only moved out here six months ago from the city, and loved the seclusion being on the outskirts brought. Peace. Quite. A far cry from the hustle and bustle of the city and the sounds of traffic and sirens. Yawning, she rolled her window down, allowing the cool breeze of the night air to blow against her face, and flipped on the radio, singing along to the music.   
Maybe if she'd been more alert, maybe, she could of avoided what happened next, but she was tired, and her reflexes were slower than usual. And it just happened so   
suddenly. Out of nowhere, something bolted across the street in front of her car. She realized what was happening too late and slammed on the brakes, hearing the squealing of her tires, feeling the brakes lock under her feet, as her car slid, colliding with the deer. It flipped up over the hood, and Janie screamed out loud when she saw a hoof come crashing through the windshield. Her hands held tight to the steering wheel but she wasn't able to control the spin that the impact had caused the car to go into, and after what felt like an eternity she felt the passenger side of the car door hit hard against the telephone pole, jolting her body and causing her head to smack against the steering wheel.   
In a daze, she watched the deer wrench itself free, wondering how it wasn't dead. She imagined it would be soon, and more glass sprayed onto her as it hobbled off into the woods. Her body ached, her head throbbed, but somehow she managed to open the drivers door and hobble out, sliding slightly in the dewy grass as her feet hit a slight downhill embankment, and she caught herself on her hands before she slid the few feet all the way down, pulling herself back up to a standing position and surveying the car. The passenger side was smashed into the pole, the windshield cracked to pieces, what damage the deer didn't make upon impact it caused while getting itself loose, and the front tire was flat. All in all, this car was going nowhere. She felt something sticking running down her face, and reached up to touch her head, pulling her hand away to see the blood. She felt the pain then, but she blinked back the tears and crawled into her car. The contents of her purse where all over the place, but she fumbled around, her hand finally closing around the phone on the back floorboard, when she heard the sound of a vehicle approaching, and she glanced up, squinting at the bright head light that stopped a few feet from her car, realizing belatedly that it was a motorcycle, not a car with a missing headlight.

"Are you ok?" She heard a male voice call out, as the driver of the bike climbed off his bike and pulled off his helmet.   
Janie slid back out of the car, from the position she was laying in to reach her phone, to tell the passerby that she was fine, and that she was trying to get her phone to call the police, when a wave of dizziness overcame her, and she stumbled against the car "I'm fine, I hit a deer."   
"Is it dead?" he asked, walking toward her  
"it ran off that way." she replied weakly, motioning to the woods  
"are you ok?"  
"I think so." she shook her head, a wave of dizziness overcoming her again. Her head was beginning to throb bad  
"You're hurt." the man saw the pained expression on her face and hurried towards her  
"I'm fine. I hit my head. I'll be ok."  
"did you call the police?" he asked, reaching out to take her arm, and she realized that she was shaking   
"I was trying to find my phone when you arrived."  
"here, sit down." he opened the back door of her car and ushered her in, "I've got this." he pulled out his cell phone and Janie heard him talking on the phone, but could vaguely make out what he was saying   
"they're on their way. here." he was taking of his jacket, handing it to her  
"I'm not cold." she protested  
"no, you're in shock. You're shaking. put it on." he commanded, draping it over her.  
She slid her arms in, taking in the warmth from his body heat and the scent of him as well, and tried to smile "thanks."  
"the police are on the way. an ambulance too."  
"I don't need an ambulance. I'm fine. I just hit my head."  
"yeah, I know. You're pretty banged up.?"  
"thanks. for stopping. "  
"why wouldn't I of?"  
"Not everyone would of." she shrugged and winced, the pain in her head unreal  
He was hunched down, rubbing her arm comfortingly "what's your name?"  
"Janie."  
"Janie. I'm Norman. Help will be here soon, just hang tight ok? Don't close your eyes. Talk to me, what happened, the deer just run out in front of you?"  
"I looked away for a second, and it was there. I couldn't avoid it. I hope it's not suffering."  
"I doubt it. I'm sure it wandered off to die."  
"I can't stand the thought of it laying there hurt." she sighed, closing her eyes "will you check?"  
"as soon as the police get here I'll go check ok? Right now you're my priority"  
She opened her eyes again "Thank you Norman." she gave him a weak smile "you're very kind"  
"The deer did a number on your car, huh?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation light and her conscious and talking. The gash on her head had him concerned. He couldn't see much in the dark, but he could see that her hair was dark, and sticky with blood. He wasn't sure if her skin tone was normally pale, but he was pretty sure the whiteness of her face had to do with shock, along with the trembling of her body. He could feel it under his grasp on her arms  
"Still, I hope it's not suffering."  
"you're the first person I know who was more worried about the deer they hit than themselves."  
"I'm a nurse. It kind of comes naturally, animal or human."  
The sounds of sirens in the distance grew closer "they're almost here."  
"I don't want to go back to the hospital." she tried to joke, but hissed when another wave of pain hit her head  
"that's where you were coming from?"  
"twelve hours in the ER is enough."  
He smiled "well this time you get to be waited on."  
"oh, goody."  
The police and ambulance arrived then, and she was vaguely aware of Norman moving out of the way so the responders could come to her aide. She could hear voices around her, but slowly she felt herself slipping into a state of unconsciousness and welcomed the blackness that surrounded her.  
~~ ~ ~~  
The rhythmic sound of machines beeping brought her awake, and Janie opened her eyes to a dimly lit room. She recognized it as one of the hospital rooms, and for a minute, she thought she'd dozed off in one of the empty beds doctors and nurses could use on their breaks during particularly long shifts. Everything was hazy and confusing, and then suddenly she realized the beeping was coming from machines hooked to her, and she saw the IV in her hand, the monitor next to her, and remembered the accident. The noise was annoying, and she unclipped the pulse monitor from her finger, thankful that the noise stopped. She blinked, trying to focus, and sat up slowly, feeling the achiness in her body. What time was it anyway? How long had she been out? From the dim lighting through the window she guessed close to dawn. She glanced around, seeing several bouquets of flowers decorating her room, and frowned, picking up the controller next to her and hitting the call button. Several seconds later, the door opened and a woman entered, smiling at Janie.   
"Hey you." Her friend and fellow nurse Lena smiled at her brightly, coming to stand beside the bed "how are you doing?"  
"What time is it? How long have I been here?" Janie asked, hearing the hoarseness in her own voice  
"It's almost seven."  
"I've been asleep six hours?" she asked in surprise  
"Seven at night sweetie. You've been asleep all day." Lena corrected her  
"seriously?" Janie asked incredulously  
"Doctor Mack wants to keep you for observation a few days. Says you have a pretty nasty concussion."  
"I'm fine, really." Janie protested  
"you don't look fine." Lena sat down on the bed next to her "When they brought you in you were mess. We tried to clean you up as best as possible but you still have a lot of dried blood in your hair and a lot of bruising around your forehead and cheek where your head hit the steering wheel. It's best that you rest. Trust me."  
"Can I use the bathroom at least?" Janie asked  
"Of course. Here, let me help you." Lena moved the machine enough that she could get between it and Janie, and hooked her arms around Janie to help support her body as she stood up. "Just lean on me, ok?"  
"I hate this. You know I don't like to rely on people for help."  
"Well, for another day or so it won't kill you." Lena rolled the pole holding Janie's IV along side them towards the bathroom, stopping just outside the door "I'll wait right here, holler if you need me."  
"Thanks, I'll be fine." Janie assured her, shutting the door and using the bathroom. She stood up and washed her hands, finally looking into the mirror. She wanted to blame the bathroom lighting, but she knew that her already pale skin looked even paler in contrast with the dark bruising along her forehead and cheekbone. Lena had been telling the truth, someone had tried to brush her hair for her, but one side of her dark hair was hard and crusted with blood, and a two by four sized bandage was fixed right along her temple and hairline. She looked like death, she decided. She wanted nothing more at the moment than to take a shower, but she knew, it wouldn't be allowed until the morning at least. Opening the bathroom door she saw Lena waiting patiently, leaning against the wall. She smiled at her knowingly  
"Once you shower it won't be so bad, I promise." she voiced Janie's thoughts out loud, grabbing the IV pole and helping to support her weight as they made their way back to the bed.  
"I'm tempted to attempt it tonight."  
"Be a good patient." Lena chided, with a small smile "Can I get you anything?"   
They both glanced up as a knock sounded and Dr. Mack entered, smiling at them. Jacob Mack was a nice looking man, in his early forties with a head of dark hair and big brown eyes, he was one of Janie's favorite doctors to work with. He was kind not only in his bedside manner to patients, but to all the staff he worked with on a daily basis. It was rare to find that these days.  
"How's my patient doing?" he greeted  
"Fulfilling the stereotype that doctors and nurses make lousy ones." Lena teased "she thinks she can take a shower."  
Janie glared playfully at Lena for tattling on her  
"When can I get out of here?" she asked instead, settling back down on the bed  
He pulled out his pen light and held her head, examining her eyes and then using his fingers to feel around her neck for soreness. She flinched involuntarily  
"how's the head?" he asked  
"I'm assuming you've got some good drugs in this IV so not too bad." she replied  
He smiled "by tomorrow you can shower, and we'll change the bandage, and we'll go from there. More than likely I'll release you after that if all looks good, hows that?"  
"Thanks." Janie sighed  
"I'm glad you're ok Janie." He replied, pulling away from her and flipping his med chart closed "I don't like to see my favorite nurse hurt."  
"Hey!" Lena protested in mock indignation, which caused them both to laugh  
"I am just ready to be out of here for a few days, as both a patient and a nurse." Janie replied  
"We'll try to make that happen. In the mean time, try to behave yourself, be good for poor Lena here." he smiled, walking towards the door "ok?" he added, as if he needed a spoken promise  
"ok, I promise." Janie sighed  
"thank you. Page me if you need anything." he added to Lena, before disappearing out the door  
"I better go do some rounds as well. I'll be here until midnight, so I'll be back to check on you." Lena spoke up, heading towards the door herself  
"Lena?" Janie asked  
"what?"  
"who are the flowers from?" she asked curiously  
"Oh." Lena stopped, looking at the bouquets of flowers sitting on the table, "well this one..." she posed next to the beautiful bouquet of wildflowers, as if she were Vanna White "Is from all your favorite nurses" as she said it she indicated herself, which caused Janie to laugh, even though it hurt. "This one" she moved to the bouquet of roses "Is from that gorgeous man that just left and a couple other doctors. The daisy's are from your mom, who has called twice to check on you and point out that she hates being so far away from you and you need to come back home to Texas, so call her tomorrow. And this one..." she stopped at the assortment of different colors and types of flowers that made up the final beautiful bouquet "arrived a couple hours ago. I tried to be nosy, but the envelope is sealed, so...here you go." she handed Janie a small envelope and hovered, waiting to find out who the mystery flowers were from  
Janie opened the envelope, pulling out the small florist card. On the back was a sweet, neatly written message "The deer sends his apologies and thanks you for his concern. He's ok, amazingly. Hope you are. Norman." Janie smiled.  
"whose Norman?" Lena asked curiously  
"Norman was the guy on the motorcycle, the one who helped me after the accident" Janie informed her  
"oh, the actor guy?" Lena asked, nodding in understanding  
"actor guy?" Janie frowned  
"You don't know" Lena gazed at her, her mouth half open  
"I don't know what"  
"the guy that stopped and helped you after you hit that deer was that Norman guy, you know, the one who plays the crossbow guy on the walking dead? All the EMTs guys were fanning out as they brought you in here. It was worse than a bunch of teenage groupie chicks."  
"That's was him??!" Janie asked in shock  
"You're familiar with his work?"  
"I adore that show."  
"Well, apparently he's really adorable in real life. And apparently you were more out of it than you knew not to realize who you were talking to. In your defense, you were concussed and losing blood though."  
"what a way to make a fucking impression." Janie sighed  
Lena grinned teasingly "well, he works with zombies right? You looked like one. So you fit right in with him."  
She laid her head back and sighed "you're not helping the situation"   
Lena laughed "I'm kidding. You did make an impression though, I mean, he sent you those amazing flowers."  
"because he probably thinks I'm half dead."  
"well, you coulda been." she shrugged, then turned and hugged Janie tightly "I'm glad you're not though. I love you girl."  
"Don't get all sentimental on me now." Janie replied. She wasn't one for showing her feelings, and tended to shy away when others did "you just compared me to a zombie, remember?"  
"I meant it in the kindest way." Lena stood up and smiled "get some rest. Page me if you need me."  
"I will. thanks." Janie called after her as she left the room  
She glanced back down at the card, re reading Normans words, and smiling. He'd checked on the deer.   
~~ ~ ~~  
Janie was beginning to sympathize more and more with the patients the longer she sat in her room waiting to be released. She'd been able to take a shower the following day, and one of the other nurses had retrieved the extra set of clothes that she kept stored in her locker, so she was feeling more like a normal person. Her body still ached, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle at home, on her own. She unfortunately couldn't do much about the bruising around her cheek and forehead, but at least she'd been able to wash away all the dried blood and brush her hair.   
She'd left it down, so it hung loosely around her shoulders. The thought of tying it up in it's signature style made her head hurt more. The only make up she wore was a coat of lipstick, to bring a little color to her face, but she was sure it had already worn off as she laid on top of bed waiting for her discharge papers that felt like they would never arrive. She wanted to point out that if she was being forced to take a couple weeks off, it technically shouldn't start until after she was out of the this hospital, because this was not how she envisioned spending the vacation time she'd worked so hard to save.  
A knock sounded on her door, and she looked up, hoping to see Dr. Mack with her papers. Instead she saw Jackie, another nurse, who poked her head in with a small, slightly odd smile on her face  
"Hey Janie." she greeted, smoothing back the few strands of blonde hair that were trying to escape her ponytail "you have a visitor." She turned to the man that was standing in the doorway behind her "She's decent, go on in." she instructed him. She raised her eyebrows at Janie one last time in silent communication and disappeared out of the room as Norman walked in, looking a little self conscious  
Janie's mouth fell open in shock, and she shut it quickly, not wanting to appear too awestruck, but couldn't believe that this man was actually standing in front of her in her hospital room. He was dressed in dark jeans and a t-shirt with some band logo she'd never heard of before. His slightly long hair was half hidden under the baseball cap he wore low on his face.  
"It's you." Janie said the first words that came out of her mouth, wanting to beat her head against the wall for sounding so lame, and would have, if it still didn't hurt so bad  
"Hi." Norman flashed her a genuine smile and crossed over to her bedside, holding out a hand "I'm Norman"  
"I know who you are. Nice to meet you officially, I'm Janie."  
"Janie." he repeated, and she liked the way her name sounded on his lips. "wow, you look...ten times better than the last time I saw you."  
She blushed a little "I can't thank you enough for doing what you did, I don't know what i'd of done if you hadn't stopped to help."  
"I did what any decent person would have done. You don't have to thank me."  
"Well then, thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful."  
"Those are actually from Cletus."  
"Cletus?" She repeated with a frown  
"The deer, that ran into your car? He was really sorry about all the damage."  
She couldn't help but smile "So not only did you find the exact deer that I hit, but you found out his name too?"  
He shrugged "Actually, I called a buddy of mine. He works in wildlife rescue. He found the deer in the morning. Alive. Broken leg, so Cletus is now recovering in an animal wildlife rescue center instead of being someone's dinner"  
"well that's a comforting thought. Please send my apologies to Cletus as well." Janie smiled at him  
"I will. I hope you don't mind, that I stopped by. I've been thinking of you since the accident and I got off work and ust wanted to swing by real quick. The staff here are all very graciously accommodating, if I do say so myself."  
"Awestruck is a more suitable term."   
He smiled "a little bit, but that's ok. I've been around worse."  
"It's very kind of you to stop by, thank you."  
"Well I'm just glad to know you're doing better. You had me worried for awhile. You look like you're ready to get out of here. Are you getting discharged soon?"  
"If the doctor ever brings my release forms." she sighed  
As if on cue Dr. Mack entered, stopping in surprise when he saw Janie had a guest. If he recognized Norman he didn't show any visible outward signs of it  
"ok Janie. You're out of here. Please be careful and take care of yourself. And try not to hit anymore deer, ok?" he added, as he handed her the paperwork to sign  
"I'll do my best." she smiled, signing it quickly "thanks"  
He nodded "You have my number, if you're feeling bad, page me, ok?"  
"ok." She agreed  
"Do you need me to call someone to come get you?" he asked  
"I'll probably just call a taxi. My rental isn't being delivered until tomorrow and I'm not sure I'm up to driving yet anyway."   
He nodded "smart girl. You take care." he nodded to her and smiled at Norman as he left the room, leaving them alone again  
"So this might sound awkward, since you don't know me, but I'll give you a ride home, spare you the taxi ride."  
"oh, no, that's ok. You've already rescued me once this week, I can endure a taxi ride."  
"It's not a problem. It'll actually give me peace of mind." he shrugged  
"are you sure? I don't want to be a burden. I already feel like I am."  
"I wouldn't be standing here offering if I thought that." he looked around the room "do you have everything you need?"  
"I only have the one bag, and the flowers, but I'm thinking...would it be ungrateful to send the flowers down to the common room for everyone, including the patients that venture out of their rooms to enjoy? I don't have a real way of transporting them and my cat will just eat them when I bring them home."  
"I think that's a nice idea." he smiled "You own a cat?" he asked, standing close to her as she stood up, as if he was afraid she'd be too weak to support herself  
"Correction. My cat owns me." Janie joked "yes, I have a cat. Monster."  
"His name is Monster?"  
"yes. Because he's huge, and he's a freakin big black monster, in every since of the word. My neighbor has been looking in on him for me. I can only imagine what he's done to my place while I've been gone."  
"Well, no time like the present to find out." Norman grinned, taking her arm to support, despite her protest, as they exited the hospital. Janie couldn't help but blush and feel slightly flattered as they caught the looks the fellow nurses and a few other employees shot their way as they left.  
~~ ~ ~~  
The twenty pound cat had no problem asserting himself in Normans personal space the minute he walked through the door with Janie. In fact, the asshole barely acknowledged her presence except to meow once and circle around her feet before moving curiously over to Norman, who had squatted down and began petting the black cat enthusiastically  
"He's huge. Monster is a perfect name for him, look at those feet." He scooped the cat up, and Monster, who didn't normally like to be cuddled close, purred in his arms and looked perfectly content, the traitor. He soaked it up as Norman continued to stroke his fur and love on him  
"I'm surprised he hasn't destroyed my furniture. Usually if I'm gone longer than a day he destroys something. But everything appears to be in good shape." Janie announced, looking around for any visible signs of damage as she dropped her bag on the chair "Can I get you anything to drink? I have beer. I can't drink, but that doesn't mean you can't."  
"Actually, I'll just have a water too." he shrugged, watching her pull a bottle from her refrigerator  
She nodded in surprise, and sat the bottle down on the coffee table, since his hands were still occupied with the cat, and sat down on the couch to study him. He was a good looking man, and it felt almost unreal that he was standing in her living room, petting her cat. He finally sat down on the sofa next to her, letting Monster down, who protested, and circled his feet as he grabbed his water bottle  
"you're a sweet cat, cat." he petted Monster on the head and smiled at her "He really is a beautiful cat."  
"He knows it too." she replied "Like I said, I don't own a cat, he owns me. And he's aware of that as well."  
Norman laughed "typical cat attitude."  
"I still wish there was something I could do to repay you for all your kindness." she finally spoke up, voicing the thoughts that had been going through her head during all the small talk on the way here.  
"You let me in your house and I got to pet your kitty, that's enough payment." he shrugged  
Janie stared at him a second and watched as his face grew red in embarrassment as he finally realized the double meaning of his words, and she grinned  
"I'd recall those words and try again, but it sounds bad no matter which way I phrase it." he finally sighed, shaking his head and flashing her a still embarrassed smile  
"It's ok. As least one of us is getting some attention these days, huh Monster?" she joked, reaching over and stroking the cats head, unwilling to let him off the hook so easily, enjoying his embarrassment  
"I find that hard to believe." Norman spoke up, "there's no way to be so pretty and not get attention from the opposite sex."  
"We're still talking about the cat, right?" Janie tried to joke  
"of course." he played along "but his owner is pretty cute too."  
It was her turn to blush "The bruising does bring color to my face."  
"I expected it to be worse honestly. You got lucky."  
"I don't feel lucky right now."  
"you want to?" he teased, raising an eyebrow  
She laughed slightly "I was ordered not to partake in any strenuous activities, remember?"  
"That's right. Well I guess it's a bad idea then. It'd definitely be exerting."  
"Are you bragging?" she asked, raising an eyebrow  
"cautioning." he corrected  
"Well that's not fair. I get cautioned for something I don't even get to make up my mind if I want to experience?"  
"Maybe you can make up your mind at a later date" he shrugged  
"Is there going to be a later date?" she asked curiously  
"I kind of hope so, if you're interested." he was serious now, studying her intently, and she swallowed hard  
"I'm interested." It came out in more of a whisper, and she found herself blushing again  
He smiled, and squeezed her leg as he stood up "I should go. Can I call you in a few days then? Make some plans?"  
"Of course." she stood up with him, slightly disappointed that he was leaving already, and rattled off her phone number absently as he keyed it into his phone, before shoving it back in his pocket.   
"Take care of yourself Janie. Try not to hit anymore deer ok?"  
"I'll do my best." she promised  
"And you." he scooped the cat up "be good to your owner. From the looks of it you haven't missed a meal in a long time. Be thankful" The cat meowed in his face and he gave him another belly rub before setting him back down and walking to the door  
"thank you, for everything again." Janie told him, for lack of anything better to say as she stood at the door with him  
He reached over and gave her a hug, trying to be gentle with her bruised body "I'll talk to you soon." he promised, rubbing her back lightly before he released her and opened the door  
"goodnight Janie."  
"Goodnight Norman"


	2. Getting what she wants

It took about a week for Janie's head to stop hurting everytime she lifted it off the pillow and her body to stop aching in places she never thought possible. Even the bruising on her face was beginning to fade, and with makeup, she was able to cover a lot of it up, there was still a hint visible, but it didn't look bad. What felt alittle bruised right now, was her pride. She hadn't heard from Norman since he left her house. She wasn't really sure that she had expected too, but the idea was a nice one. It was good talking to him, to see a caring side to someone who played such rough characters on tv. But he was an actor, so maybe it was just all an act, maybe he was just being nice, pretending he was interested in more than just the casual aquaintance. But he wouldn't of had to act like he was.   
She hadn't thrown any suggestive inuendos out to him or asked anything of him, so he could of just left it at nice to meet you and been on his way. It was ridiculous, how much she was thinking of him. She justified it by the fact that she didn't have much else to think about. She wasn't due to go back to work for another week at least, if she was released from the doctor, which she felt she could probably persude Jacob into signing off on her return, and she really wasn't physically able to do too much other stuff. Ideally, she'd of liked to give her whole house a complete scrub down, it wasn't dirty, but it could still use it, just because dust gathered in places she didn't normally pay much attention too, like the ceiling fan blades that she was currently sitting on her couch staring at. But she wasn't suposed to overly exert herself, definately she wasn't suposed to be climbing up and down, and if she was going to do a cleaning, it wasn't going to be half ass. So she had a lot of free thinking time on her hands.   
Her neighbor, Kaley, had come by a time or too, just to check on her and chat over a cup of coffee. Janie liked Kaley. They were both single women in their thirties, who had professional careers, Kaley was a paralegal, and neither were in a hurry to fill their lives with men. Although, Kaley did entertain a lot more men than Janie did. Infact, Janie didn't like to think about how long it'd been since she was with a man, but it was way overdue. She'd had offers, of course, even Jacob had given her the vibe, but she didn't want to be involved with anyone she worked with, one, because her work was gossip central, and two, because if it went south, she'd be losing a dear friend, and she wouldn't have that. She decided to take a bath, to relax and help with her aching muscles, and had just added some bath soap and lowed herself down into the sunken tub when her cell phone rang. Of course. She thought with a sigh. She reached blindly over the side of the tub for her phone, her hand closing around it and she hurriedly answered it before the last ring would send the caller to voice mail.  
"Hey, did I wake you?"   
She recognized the smooth, mellow voice as belonging to Norman, and she smiled into the phone, feeling her heart beat just alittle faster  
"Hi. No, I was taking a bath, actually."  
There was a pause before he answered "Do you want to call me back? I didn't mean to bother you."  
"You're not bothering me. There's only so much a person can do in the bathtub."   
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back. Her face flushed  
He cleared his throat "Sorry i didn't call before, I had a fan convention in New York and stayed there an extra few days to hang out with some family and friends."  
"It's totally fine. You're calling now, that's all that matters. Did you do anything fun in New York?"  
"It just feels good to go home sometimes, you know? I mean, Georgia is my home most of the time, but New York, it's home, home. Sometimes I really get to missing it, but then I get back here, and I'm thankful for the solitude."  
"That's why I moved out of Atlanta. I just wanted to be able to go outside and not feel like my neighbors were right on top of me." Janie agreed  
"Have you ever been to New York City?"  
"Once, along time ago. It was nice, but chaotically insane. Like I loved it, but I don't think I would want to live there."  
"there's definately a vast difference between here and there." he agreed  
"How was your convention?" Janie asked  
"Insane. I loved every minute of it but I am beat. I slept on the plane. That's a rarity."  
"I can't sleep on planes. It's like I can't shut my mind off the what ifs. Of course, if the plane crashed and I was asleep during it, I guess I wouldn't have to worry about the what ifs."  
"There's more chance of you getting in a car accident than a plane crashing." he laughed...then trailed off "Sorry, bad analogy. How are you feeling?"  
"Better. My body is still slightly sore but compared to a week ago, 100% better."  
"good, I'm glad to hear it." he replied "are you still in the bathtub?" he asked  
"yes."  
She heard him suck in a breath "I wish you never would of told me. I'm sitting here trying to have a conversation with you and that's all I can picture right now."  
"Well if I'd of known you were going to call I would of waited."  
"To take a bath or for me?" he teased  
She grinned "well, it is a big enough bathtub for two." she countered  
"You are a tease." he laughed  
"I wasn't really teasing."   
"If I wasn't trying to be a gentleman right now I'd call you out on that offer."  
"Gentlemen are overrated." she sighed playfully  
"what happened to no strenous activity?"  
"It's been a week, I think I can handle you."  
"you think so huh?" She could hear the playful tone in his own voice  
"this conversation is moot anyway because it's not like it's happening. So all we're doing is torturing ourselves." She spoke up  
"what if we did more?"  
"I'm not big on phone sex."  
"I wasn't talking about on the phone."  
"Seriously?"  
"I'm only twenty minutes away, tops." he replied   
"that would give me time to throw some clothes on."  
"Why?" he teased, and she laughed out loud  
"Got to leave something to the imagination."  
"I'm imagining right now."  
"well quit imagining and come over. God I sound like a slut." she added outloud, in after thought  
"That's ok, I like it. Do you really want me to come over?"  
"Yes."  
"Ok. I will."  
"Do you remember where I live?"  
"yes. Give me twenty."  
"ok."  
Janie hung up the phone and shot up out of the bathtub, wincing at the too fast movement, but shaking it off and reaching in to pull the plug on the bathtub, rinsing off in the shower quickly wrapping herself in a towel. She headed to her bedroom and opened her closet, quickly pulling on a spagetti strapped sundress and a pair of her sexiest panties. she didn't bother with a bra, she figured it would be coming off anyway and the dress was flattering enough that she didn't need one. She hurriedly put on alittle bit of cover up over her bruises and brushed out her still wet hair, wincing when the brush caught in a tangle, reminding herself that she needed to still be somewhat gentle. She was only partially through blow drying her hair when she head the doorbell, and she felt her stomach drop, feeling nerves that weren't there a few minutes ago, but now the reality of the situation had hit home. She swallowed hard and made her way to the front door, peeking out to see Norman standing there. God he looked beautiful. She pasted a smile on her face and opened the door, greeting him  
"Hey." she greeted him stupidly  
"hi." he came through the door and dropped his keys and cell phone onto the little table inside the door, reaching out to give her a hug "you smell good." he complimented, then pulled away to study her at arms length "and look good. If I didn't know it I would never be able to tell that you had a run in with a deer."  
"How is Cleatus?" she asked curiously, deflecting the attention from herself  
"Healing nicely. You still look better."  
She laughed "I think that's a compliment?"  
He smiled "definately."  
"Can I get you anything?" she asked "I'm not really suposed to be drinking much, but one beer wouldn't hurt me"  
"I don't need to be drunk to be with you." he stated  
"I didn't mean it that way, I was trying to be a proper hostess."  
"Can we skip the proper stuff?" he asked curiously  
She nodded, swallowing nervously "ok."  
He stroked her cheek gently, where it was still slightly bruised "are you having second thoughts? If so, I'll leave."  
"No." she caught his hand in her own "I'm just alittle nervous."  
"Don't be" he instructed her, watching as she glanced away, sincing the fact that she was at a loss for what to say   
"Janie?"  
"Yes?" she asked, looking back at him, this time meeting his blue eyes with her green ones  
"Wanna give me a tour of the place?"  
"But you've been here-" she started to reply, with a slight frown, but then realized what he was implying and smiled at him "Sure." she cleared her throat, taking his hand and turning to gesture to the room they were standing in "well this, is my living room. You might remember it from the other night."  
"I do, it's a very nice living room." he agreed  
She smiled "Through there" she gestured with her hand, " is the kitchen..." she pulled him down the hall, stopping by the bathroom "there's where I was taking a bath when you called me."  
He glanced in the bathroom "you're right, two people could fit in that tub." he mumbled, squeezing her hand  
"you know where two people could fit better?" she asked, and gave him a wicked grin when he looked at her "my bedroom." She pulled him into her room, where they both stopped before a big king sized bed with a violet bedspread and matching frilly pillowcases.  
"that's definately big enough for both of us." he mumbled, standing behind her.  
She closed her eyes as she felt his arms come around her waist and pull her into him, she could feel the bulge already forming in his pants as he made a trail of kisses down her neck and to her collar bone, stopping at the spaghetti strap of her dress  
"You'll have to tell me if you're hurting somewhere of if I'm hurting you, ok?" he said softly  
She turned, so that they were face to face now, and reached to hook her fingers behind his neck, playing with the strands of hair there "I like alittle pain."  
He shook his head, a grin on his face "I'm all for that too, but I'm serious. I don't know if you're bruised someplace, or hurting-"  
"I'm fine. I'm not broken, ok?"  
He dipped his head, meeting her lips with his own then in a hungry frenzy. She kissed him back with the same hunger, twisting her fingers in his hair as his tongue invaded her mouth. She met his tongue with her own and they kissed in a frenzied hot passion that she'd only read about in books. His mouth left hers and moved back to her neck, and she leaned her head back to give him better access, felt his hands sliding the straps off her shoulders and his mouth taking their place. She stepped away long enough to allow the dress to fall to her waist, and he stared at her for several seconds in appreciation, before he pulled his own shirt over his head and pulled her back close to him, so that they were skin to skin, and kissed her again, even more passionaltely than before. Her skin felt like it was on fire, or was it his? Maybe it was her whole body. She ran her hands down his back, over his chest, playing with the hair there, her hands moving down towards the button of his jeans. But he was already nudging her back against the bed, and she let him guide her onto it, where he finished pulling her dress off over her hips. She wanted his jeans off too, but instead he half stradled her, caressing her legs, her thighs, her hips, first with his hands, then with his mouth, touching everywhere except the part where she wanted him to touch the most. She arched up into him impatiently, and he smiled wickedly at her, his fingers tracing lightly over her panties  
"Norman." she pleaded, trying to gain closer contact with the fingers that were lazily stroking her silky panties  
He smiled wider, dipping his hand inside, feeling her wetness, sliding a finger inside of her briefly, pulling it away too quickly, and she groaned in frustration, reaching down and pulling the panties off herself.  
"aren't you the impatient one?" he teased, watching as her own hand traveled down to touch herself for a second. It was fucking hot, and turned him on more.   
"only slightly." she admitted unashamed  
He moved his hand back to her, replacing her fingers with his own, and then his mouth as well, until he had her gasping out in half moans and arching into him, holding his hand hostage in the perfect spot as the first wave of an orgasm rolled over her.   
"Take your fucking pants off." she ordered, trying to sit up when she could talk again  
He laughed, "yes ma'am." he stood up long enough to shed the rest of his clothes and before he was even back on the bed Janie was on him, her mouth returning the favor that he'd just done for her, licking up the length of him, stroking, sucking deeply, taking all of him, until he felt like he was going to cum right there on her face. That's not what he wanted. He rolled her over and grabbed the condom he'd taken out of his jeans pocket, rolling it on with a grace he didn't know he could possess, and then he was thrusting inside her. She cried out in pleasure at the foreign, yet fantastic feel of him, and within seconds had her legs wrapped around him and was meeting him thrust for thrust, kissing his chest, his lips, and moaning into his mouth, breaking off the kiss and digging her nails into his biceps as she climaxed again. She was hot and sweaty and panting but she wanted more, and with his instructions, crawled onto her knees, bending over so he could enter her from behind, where he grabbed at her hips and thrust hard and fast over and over, never breaking stride until she felt his body tremble and heard him let out a loud, satisfied moan, before his head fell half limp against her back. She laughed happily, her heart still pounding in her chest as she laid down on her stomach on the bed, and he moved beside her, breathing just as heavily.  
"Fuck." he said in a half moan, laughing lightly with her  
"Good?" she asked, rolling to her side so she could play with his chest hair  
"Great." he confirmed, catching her hand and holding it against his chest. She could feel his heart beating wildly and she smiled, liking that she was partially the cause of that.  
"Maybe I should have waited on that bath. I feel like a sweaty mess." She commented  
"You can always take another." he replied  
"True." she gave him a wicked grin "Want to join me?"  
He laughed, squeezing her hand tightly "Give me a few minutes." he pulled her against his chest then, and she rested her head on him, feeling happy, and closing her eyes, and before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep.


	3. Moving Forward

The next morning when she woke up, Janie wasn't surprised to find herself alone in the bed. She pushed away any feelings that kept forming in her head, any voices that caused her to think negatively, thoughts about how she'd been used and things along those lines, hell, she'd used him just as much. Ideally, it would of been nice to find a note, like something out of a romantic movie, telling her he'd had a good time and would call her later, but she found none, not even a text message from him. She entered the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee after a long shower. Her body was sore, but in a different way, in a good way. That's when she spotted his jacket still hanging on the back of her kitchen chair, the one he'd given her the night of the accident, the one she'd had cleaned and meant to give him back last night. She sighed, and fingered it gently. She could text him and let him know it was here, but she didn't want to appear desperate, at least, not so soon after last night. Especially if he left without so much as a goodbye, or at least a goodbye text. What did she want from him really? Did she really think they'd have this hot sex and romantic relationship afterwards? No. But it still kind of hurt a little bit to feel completely blown off.   
A knock sounded at her kitchen door and her head snapped up, alittle bit of disapointment filling her body when she spotted Kaley through the glass. She forced a smile she didn't quite feel, that had nothing to do with Kaley's presence and everything to do with her just feeling sorry for herself, and crossed the kitchen to open the back door.  
"Hey." Kaley greeted her, entering the kitchen in a whirlwind of excitement that was just Kaley "how are you feeling this morning?"  
"Better. You want coffee?" Janie asked, already crossing over to pour her a cup, frowning alittle as a thought dawned on her "why did you come in the back way, anyway?"  
"I was trying to see if your company had left, I'm not good at being sneaky, but when I saw the truck was gone I just came up the back porch." she shrugged, taking it and sitting down at the table "so...who was your late night visitor?"  
She was grinning at Janie, who couldn't help but blush  
"It was just a friend."  
"Just a friend." Kaley scoffed "none of my friends have ever left hicky's on my neck like that before."  
Janie's hand immediately went to her neck, to the reddened skin there left by Normans mouth the night before, and felt herself blushing again.  
"Hey, I'm not knocking it, I mean, good for you, but I am nosey about who the man was." Kaley shrugged taking a drink of her coffee  
Janie sat down beside her and played with a napkin on the table, tearing it absently into little pieces "It was Norman." she finally said quitely  
Kaleys screech had her wincing, and she immediately noticed, "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, trying to hush her tone somewhat, but was still bouncing up and down in her seat excitedly "I can't believe you hooked up with Norman! How was it? Was he big? Was he good? Was he disapointing? Are you seeing him again?"  
Her tirad of questions caused Janie to smile slightly "He was good, and he was, yeah he was big. And Definately did not disapoint."  
Kaley opened her mouth to squeel again but shut it quickly, instead squeezing Janies hand tightly "so? What does this mean?"  
"It means I slept with a guy?" Janie asked, standing up  
"Not just any guy. A famous guy. Am I going to see you walking the red carpet with him anytime soon?"  
She snorted, amused by Kaleys overactive imagination "Highly doubtful. I'm not even sure if I'll be seeing him at all anytime soon. Considering he left before I woke up."  
"That doesn't mean anything."  
"Really? Because when I've done that and not left a note it usually meant one night stand, nice knowing you."   
"Well that's crappy if that's how it turns out...but, you still got the memory right? At least it's a good one."   
Janie stood up to put her cup in the sink "yes, I still have the memory. And you're right, it's a good one."

~~ ~ ~~

When Norman woke up the following morning to find himself still laying in Janie's bed with her tucked in beside him, sleeping peacefully, his brain went into panic mode. He untangled himself from her and dressed quickly, careful not to wake her. He hadn't planned on falling asleep, he definately hadn't planned on staying the night, and as he slipped his shoes, he wondered if he should leave a note, but was at a loss as to what to say. Thanks for the good time? The sex was fantastic? Anything he thought of sounded overused and cheesy. He decided to just leave things as they were, he'd call her later, let her sleep. But he felt alittle guilty as he gathered up his phone and keys and turned the lock on her door as he pulled it shut behind him, that he hadn't left a note. He almost texted her, but again, feared it would wake her up, and then what? Awkward morning conversation? He'd climbed into his truck and made his way back to his own home, climbing in the shower and letting the hot water beat down on him, trying to clear the fog from his brain. She was different than what he'd expected. In a good way. She didn't appear clingy, she didn't play coy, he felt like when he talked to her, he knew exactly what to expect from her, and he liked that. He was too old to play games. So what exactly did he want from her? Just a one night stand? It almost didn't feel like enough. He knew he wanted her again. And maybe again after that. If she'd have him. But did he want a relationship? He honestly didn't know. His life was chaos. When he wasn't filming, he was traveling. He'd been in too many relationships that ended badly because of his hectic lifestyle. He'd found it was easier to live a non commital lifestyle than to try to persue anything serious. He was over thinking, he realized, and it bothered him. Mainly because he didn't even know what she was thinking. Maybe she wouldn't want anything else to do with him at all, maybe one time was good enough for her. And if that was the case, it would be a damn shame.

When he finally climbed out of the shower and dressed, he glanced at his phone, noticing he had a new text, and was slightly disapointed to see that it was from Andy and not her. He ignored Andy's text for now and decided to just fucking text her. He didn't want her to think he just left without any regard to how she was feeling. And he realized, as he started typing, that he felt the need to want to connect with her again, even if it was just to hear that she was ok, to have some kind of sign that they were ok. It was crazy. Because there wasn't a they. It was just a night of sex. Period.   
-I had to go, didn't want to wake you. Had a good time last night.  
It was a stupid, lame, generic text, but it was mostly true, so he sent it anyway.  
He didn't realize he had been holding his breathe until his phone dinged back, and he saw that she had replied to him.  
-considerate guy. Thought maybe you were doing the walk of shame.   
-I'm not ashamed of anything I did last night- he text back with a smile  
-good, me either. I had a good time too.  
-Can I see you again?  
He waited several seconds for a reply, grinning when he saw her response  
-naked or clothed?  
-maybe both?  
-that can probably be arranged.  
-I have to work for a few hours. I'm already late. Is it ok to call you later?  
-Absolutely  
-ok. Talk to you in a few.  
-have a good day  
-you too. take care of yourself.  
He was still smiling as he tucked his phone in his pocket, and grabbed his keys to make his way to the set, where he was unusually late  
"Where have you been asshole? You can't even answer my text? You gave me the hardest time about texting instead of calling in the first place." Andy greeted him  
"Sorry, I overslept." he shrugged  
Andy studied him knowingly "You had sex."  
"who had sex?" Jeff asked, overhearing the conversation and coming over to join them "Norman? Is that why you're late?"  
"Fuck can't I just be late to be late?" he asked  
"No, you're never late." Andy pointed out  
"So who is she?" Jeff asked, hanging on Andys shoulder, and the both of them studied him with the same curious expression  
"You don't know her." Norman replied, walking past them to his trailer  
They both howled after him, keeping pace with him, entering his trailer behind him  
"come on man, spill it." Jeff demanded  
"I don't ask you two for details about your love lives." Norman replied, pulling a bottle of juice out of his fridge and drinking straight from the bottle  
"That's why you don't drink from anything open in there." Andy informed Jeff, watching him   
"noted." Jeff shrugged, then added "we're both married, there's nothing new to tell, remember?"  
"That's true. Sucks to be you two." Norman grinned teasingly  
"are you going to play this game all day or are you just going to tell us so we can get to filming?"  
"She's a nice woman. That's all there is to tell."  
"ok...how did you meet her?" Andy asked, then narrowed his eyes "please tell me not another aspiring model/actress."  
"No. She's a nurse actually."  
"A nurse huh?" Jeff grinned "So she took care of you good last night?"  
Norman rolled his eyes "fine. I'll tell you. but don't make a big deal out of it ok? I'm not even sure if it's going to go anywhere."  
"well, it already went to the bedroom..."  
"Jeff!" Norman couldn't help but laugh, and Andy nudged him to be quite  
"ok, sorry man, no more teasing. Tell us about this woman. So she's a nurse. How did you meet her? What's her name?"  
"You guys remember last week when I helped the woman who hit the deer?"   
"yeah."  
"It's her." he shrugged   
"no shit?" Jeff exclaimed   
"Her name is Janie. She's an ER nurse at the hospital." He continued  
"Wow Norman, that's...totally different than what I was expecting." Andy replied "So you two really hit it off then?"  
"After she got banged up, Norman banged her too." Jeff joked, holding up a hand to ward off a hard jab "sorry, last pun. I'm happy for you man. Seriously."  
"Me too." Andy agreed "So when you seeing her again?"  
"I'm not sure yet. I told her I'd call her after we got done filming."  
"than I'd say we better get our asses to filming. We've got a long day ahead of us." Andy informed him.

~~ ~ ~~  
"Norman, you really didn't have to bring dinner." Janie greeted him later that night, when she answerd the door to see him holding sacks of chinese take out cartons  
"I know I didn't have too, I wanted too. But I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got a little bit of everything. Beef, pork, chicken, just vegtable, egg rolls, spring rolls, white rice, brown rice."  
"How many people are you planning on feeding?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she stood in her kitchen watching him pulling things out of the paper bags  
"I may have went alittle over board." he shrugged sheepishly  
"Maybe a little." She smiled, crossing over to the cabinet to pull out some plates and sat them on the table, and then grabbed some utensils as well. "I might as well warn you now, I'm not very couth with chopsticks, I usually resort to a fork and spoon."  
"really? That surprises me, you're so good with your hands in other ways."  
She stopped setting the table and glanced up at him, trying to look serious but the sides of her mouth were twitching "have we had one conversation that hasn't turned sexual yet?"  
"I don't think so. But we can try it." he was still smiling as he took a seat across from her at the table  
"oh, I almost forgot. What can I get you to drink?"  
"Water is fine."  
She fetched two bottles from the fridge and handed him one.  
"see, nothing sexual about that conversation." he pointed out  
"I never said I minded our conversations, I just said I think they've all turned sexual in about sixty seconds."  
"if you'd of said...sixty nine seconds, I might have agreed with you just now."   
She laughed, shaking her head and sitting back down across from him "ok. reboot. how was your day?"  
"Crazy, grueling, hot, dirty, exhausting. I loved every minute of it." he replied "how was yours?"  
"To be honest, I'm going a little stir crazy. I haven't been out of the house in a week, at least. I always thought I'd be ok being one of those people who work from home or were independantly wealthy and didn't have to work, but I'm restless. And I have a rental out there that I haven't even got to drive yet." she added, gesturing towards the driveway as she ate  
"So let's do it."  
"do what?" she asked  
"after we eat, let's get you out of the house. We can take your rental for a spin. I mean, I'm driving of course, but it will probably do you some good to blow the stink off."  
"I hate that expression. It implies that I stink."  
"we both know you don't. But I imagine that by now you are feeling pretty cooped up. And there's nothing more freeing than a late night drive. But if you'd rather, we can take my truck."  
"No, we can take the rental. I'm alittle disapointed I'm not driving it though"  
"In a few more days you'll be able too." he assured her  
"I'm hoping that next week sometime they'll release me and let me return to work." she replied  
"you think you're ready for that?" he asked in surprise  
"Maybe not quite yet, I still feel tired alot more than normal. but I'm sure I can talk Jacob into signing release papers sooner rather than later."  
"that's the doctor that came in your room the day I was there?" he asked curiously  
"yes. Dr. Mack. He's a great guy."  
He wondered if there had ever been anything between them. He had seen the way the doctor had looked at Janie, it was more than just a doctor patient concern, more than just that of a friend. But he didn't want to ask. It turned out, he didn't have too  
"He's just a friend" she informed him, studying his face  
Norman shrugged "It's none of my business."  
"Isn't it? I think you have the right to know if there is someone else, and the answer is no. Especially not with Jacob. It's strictly professional. "  
"I think he'd like it to be more."  
"well, what he would like and what actually happens are two entirely different things." She was moving now, putting her empty plate in the sink, and turning on the water to rinse it.  
This somehow made him feel better, even though he didn't have a claim to her himself, it eased his mind considerably. He joined her with his own plate as she bent to open the dishwasher, stacking the plate inside, and rinsed his own  
"I'm not seeing anyone either." He informed her, putting his in the dishwasher as well  
She looked at him in surprise, and he shrugged   
"You were up front with me, I figured I should be too."  
"I'm surprised." she said it softer than she meant too as she closed the dishwasher   
"why?"  
"I don't know, I guess I had you pegged as...never mind." she trailed off with a blush  
"A womanizing playboy?" he supplied  
"Well, kind of yeah. I mean, there are plenty at your disposal." she shrugged  
"And I won't lie and say I've never taken advantage. But at the moment, there's no woman in my life, well, except you."  
"Am I technically considered to be in your life?" she asked  
"we're standing two feet apart talking, so yeah, I consider you to be in my life. As a lover, as a friend, as both, as more, I don't know, but you're part of it now."  
She smiled then, feeling like a heavy weight had just been lifted from her shoulders   
"Good. I like the idea of being part of your life."  
He leaned in, kissing her quickly "here."   
She looked down and saw he was handing her a fortune cookie  
"I don't like these." she frowned  
"you've got to read your fortune. I need to know what it says before I take a chance on venturing outside with you."  
She opened her mouth in mock indignation "are you saying I'm bad luck?"  
"I'm saying I don't want any surprises. What does it say?"  
"what does yours say?" she asked  
"Mine says, 'you will be blown tonight'" he replied  
"It does not say that." she laughed  
"yes it does"  
"Give it to me." she demanded, snatching the paper from his hand and scooting away from him to read it "it says be prepared for a mindblowing experience tonight."  
"close enough." he grinned  
She shook her head and finished opening her own fortune "If you seek something, reach for it. Nothing is gained by remaining idle."  
"are you seeking something?" he asked curiously  
She smiled, grabbing him bolding by the front of his shirt and pressing her lips to his. She kissed him throughly, and he returned the kiss in kind. Eventually they broke apart, and she could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest.  
"We better go for that ride before the only ride we end up with is one in the bedroom." he mumbled  
"I'd be okay with that too." she smiled, but pulled away, grabbing her shoes to slip then on "but in all honesty, I do need to get the hell out of here for awhile. You promised me a late night ride, and I plan on making you deliver on that."  
"Anything you want." he agreed, watching her, amusement in his eyes. And in the back of his mind, he realized he meant that statement. Maybe not for ever, but right now, in this moment, he would do anything she wanted. Not only would he, he longed to. Anything to make her happy, to see that smile on her face. If he wasn't careful, he could end up falling hard. And that wasn't something he was entirely sure he was ready for. Or wanted. But for now, he wanted, whatever she wanted.

~~ ~ ~~  
A month passed,then two. Norman and Janie continued to see each other regularly, although with both of their irregular, hectic schedules, it made it hard, but at the end of the night, they tried to make it a point to wind up in each others arms, even if all it was, was to sleep. And that happened a time or two, when they were both exhausted they they asleep while talking before anything else could happen. Everything seemed to be going good. Janie was happier than she had been in a long time. Then one night she got a text from him, and her stomach sank, and she wanted to run away as quickly as possible.   
-My friends want to meet you. Say you'll come to a get together tomorrow night- it read  
She had liked it in their happy bubble. Just the two of them. She wasn't stupid. She knew it couldn't stay like that forever, but now all kinds of doubts flew through her head. What if they hated her? What if she hated them? What if they didn't accept her? What if she wasn't good enough? What if she wasn't pretty enough? What if they pointed out all her flaws that Norman himself seemed so blind too, like the fact that she couldn't use a pair of stupid chopsticks.  
-Ok- she texted back. She put her phone back in her pocket, trying not to feel sick to her stomach. Everything would be ok, she told herself as she busied herself with paperwork at the nurses station, but in the back of her mind was that stupid nagging voice again, the one that liked to feed her the what if's. And it was at it with a vengeance tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

Norman could tell that Janie was nervous, but she had no reason to be. She looked beautiful. Although this wasn't a formal get together, she'd chosen to wear a sexy, silver v-necked sundress that complimented her skin tone and showed off her curves. She'd left her long hair down, and it fell down her back in a mass of wavy curls, giving her a rather angelic appearance. He squeezed her hand tightly, supportively, as he helped her out of his truck and walked up the driveway to his friend Josh's house, where several dozen people were gathering for drinks and casual conversation. He understood why she was intimated, but he'd done his best to ease her mind. They'd love her, he'd assured her, and besides that, it didn't matter what any of them thought, all that mattered was that he wanted to be with her. He opened the door without knocking, there was no need for that among his friends and cast mates, and he doubted anyone would hear it over the sound of music playing loudly from a stereo somewhere across the room  
Andy spotted him almost immediately, and was upon him within seconds.  
"Norman!" He grinned, greeting him with a friendly hug and pat on the back "I was wondering when you were going to show."  
Andy, who didn't drink much, appeared to already be feeling pretty good, and Norman spotted the bottle of beer in his friends hands, wondering how many he'd had already  
"Hey Andy." He greeted back with a smile "Meet Janie, Janie this is my good friend and co-star Andy."  
"Hello." Janie pasted a smile to her face and held on to Normans hand still as she extended the other to Andy, who took it in his own  
"It's great to finally meet you Janie. I've heard so much about you."  
"Good things, I hope." she laughed lightly  
"Too good. I almost thought you might be a figment of Normans imagination, but I can see now that he was telling the truth."  
Janie blushed slightly and thanked him for the compliment as he let go of her hand  
"Where's Jeff?" Norman asked  
"Out back, smoking with some of the other guys." he informed them, then turning at the sound of someone calling his name smiled again "I'll catch up with you guys soon. Great meeting you Janie."  
"You too." she replied  
"see, that wasn't so bad, right?" Norman asked, pulling her into his body "you want a drink?"  
"desperately." she sighed  
He laughed "I'll be right back."  
She nodded, staying standing where she was, her back to the wall, surveying the crowd of people. She recognized some, from being on Normans show, and she recogonized a few others, from other shows, and some she didn't know at all, but she felt slightly overwhelmed to be in a room full of so many well known faces, and it was slightly intimidating.  
"You must be Janie."  
She jumped at the unexpected voice at her side, flushing when she realized she'd been daydreaming, and looked up to see a dark hair man with kind eyes and deep dimples, grinning at her.  
"Yes, hi." she returned the smile  
"I'm Jeff. Andy said you came in with Norman. Did he leave you alone already?"  
"He went to get us a drink."   
"He should know better than to leave a good looking woman standing alone." he shook his head in mock disapointment at Norman "All I can say is he's lucky I'm a married man right now."  
Janie smiled, feeling more at ease "I think he knew I needed a little liquid courage before I started meeting people."  
"you're nervous?" he asked, raising an eyebrow  
"Slightly."  
"Oh hell honey, don't be." he slung an arm around her shoulder as if they were old acquaintances "these people here, they're all pretty good people. I won't lie to you and say there's not some you shouldn't stay away from, like that guy." he added, as a dark haired man walked by them  
"You talking about me again?" the guy stopped to address them  
Jeff grinned "This is Janie, Norman's friend. I was just giving her the heads up on who to avoid at all cost."  
"Uh, that would be the one with his arm around you." the man smiled, then held his hand out to her "Nice to meet you Janie, I'm Josh."  
She was grinning now as she shook his hand "It's nice to meet you too." she replied  
"Seriously Jeff, you're man handling my girlfriend already?" Norman's voiced interupted the introductions and Josh moved so they could see Norman had appeared, holding two beer bottles in his hand  
"Hey, I'm just filling your shoes while you're gone."   
"You wish you could fill my shoes." Norman teased good naturedly, handing Janie a bottle of beer.   
"thanks." She smiled at him, but her mind was whirling from what he'd just said. He'd called her his girlfriend in front of his friends. They hadn't discussed labels yet, and it threw her off slightly. Although, the more she mulled it over, the more it did make sense in her mind. It's funny what a person had to hear outloud sometimes though, to actually realize.   
She listened to the playful banter between the three men for several seconds before she realized she was being addressed.  
"How'd this guy get so lucky to meet you again?" Jeff was asking  
"actually, I'm the lucky one. If he hadn't come along when he did, who knows how long I'd of been stuck out there on that road." She rubbed Normans arm affectionately, causing the Jeff and Josh to fake gag on her sweet words  
"Obviously, you hit your head harder than you thought." Josh teased, earning a laugh from all of them  
"come on, I want to introduce you to some nicer people." Norman spoke up, reaching out to take her hand in his "We'll catch up with you guys later." he added to Jeff and Josh  
Janie waved as she let him lead her long, through the house out to the back yard, where several other men were gathered. Among them she spotted Andy, and another familiar face.  
"Janie, this is my good friend Sean. Sean, this is Janie, the woman I've been telling you about."  
Sean studied her, a flirty expression on his handsome face "you do exist." He took her hand "It's great to meet you."  
"You as well." she smiled back "Why are you all so surprised I actually exist? Andy said the same thing when I met him."  
"Because Norman here." Sean slung an arm around his shoulder and squeezed tightly "has talked you up so much but refused to let us meet you. So we figured either you were made up, or he was embarrassed of us, one or the other."  
"Actually, I was hoping she'd be too invested by the time she met you guys that you wouldn't be able to scare her off." Norman replied good naturedly  
"I don't know why Norman thinks were going to do something embarrassing." Andy spoke up "I think because he's such a prankster his paranoia has gotten the better of him and he thinks we're going to do something huge to get back at him."  
"But what he doesn't realize...is we're not very creative when we're drunk." Sean added, then frowned slightly "or are we?"  
"I don't know, are we?" Andy echoed, with a frown of his own  
"What are you two up to?" Norman asked, suddenly on high alert  
Sean laughed and squeezed him tight again before releasing him "we're just fucking with you man. We thought about doing something, but when we learned you were bringing Janie we decided to behave. You're welcome. For now."  
"So in all honesty, you should thank her. Profusly." Andy added with a wicked grin   
"but maybe wait until you two are alone. Although, I'm sure some people around here would love to see that." Sean added, as Josh joined them  
"what is this? Pick on Josh night?" he asked  
"Aww no buddy, it's not just pick on Josh tonight, It's pick on Josh everynight." Sean corrected, slapping him on the back playfully  
While they all teased each other Norman leaned in and whispered in Janie's ear "you want to take a walk?"  
"sure." she nodded, taking his hand, and the two of them slipped quitely away from the group of men. Josh had acres of land surrounding his property and they walked the trail silently for several minutes, it was a nice night, there was a slight breeze and the moon was full, casting a kind of romantic amiance to the evening.  
"you're friends seem nice." Janie finally broke the silence  
"they are. Sorry about them tonight. They can be kind of crude sometimes. I should have brought you around to one of these parties where there were some women to balance things out but Sean isn't in town much and he'd of had my head if everyone else got to meet you and not him."  
"I wasn't offended by them in the least. I found it pretty entertaining truthfully."  
"Really?" he raisied an eyebrow "Maybe I better keep you around then."  
"We're you planning on letting me go?" she asked, stopping in the middle of the trail and turning to him  
"Not a chance." he pulled her into him and kissed her throughly. She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss, feeling the familiar tingling sensation starting in her belly, and pulled away, giving him one more light kiss before taking his hand again   
"You called me your girlfriend." she voiced the thought that had been on her mind for the last half hour now  
"Is it a problem?"  
"No, it just surprised me. I didn't realize we'd put a label on our relationship yet."  
"It wasn't planned, but I like the way it sounded when it came out of my mouth." he admitted  
She smiled, "Me too"  
"Good."   
"So do I get the added benefits that come with being your girlfriend now?"  
He looked at her in confusion  
"I was referring to more time." she smiled  
He visibly relaxed, and she wondered what he'd thought she'd been referring to. Did that many people he date really want to use him for other reasons? It made her feel sad.  
"I'm sorry about the time. It's definately not that I don't want to be with you-"  
"I'm guilty of a crazy schedule too. I can't blame you-entirely."   
"Well you can always quit your job and just follow me around." he suggested playfully  
"You have enough groupies." she frowned, adding "Not that I'm hating. As long as you're coming home to my bed girls can fawn all over you all they want."  
"Can we go to your bed now?" he asked  
"We could, but you do realize, your place is closer."  
"yeah, about that. Sean is staying there this week with me."  
"you didn't mention that."   
"I know, I wasn't sure about it until yesterday and then it sort of slipped my mind."  
"how does having a house guest slip someone's mind?"  
"I don't really consider him a house guest. More like...a hemroid."  
She laughed "well, I guess we'll have to move the slumber party to my house then."  
"Unless you want Sean to hear how loud you are." he shrugged  
"I am not loud." she protested  
"please. If we were in a zombie apocalypse, you'd have walkers all over you with the noises you make"  
"keep teasing, and you won't be among anything all over me."   
He laughed out loud "you couldn't say no to me."  
"really?" she challenged, studying him  
"Really. I know exactly where to touch you." he reached a hand out, tracing it lightly down her inner arm, giving a slight example  
"ok." she pulled away then "challenge accepted."  
"Challenge, what challenge?" he asked  
"I bet you, that I can hold out on sex longer than you can."  
"and why would I want to make this bet?" he asked, drawing her close, kissing her neck lightly, but she pushed him away playfully  
"Norman, I'm serious. I'm going to prove a point to you."  
"What's that?"  
"that there's more to me than just sex."  
"I already know that or I wouldn't be with you."  
"then accept the challenge. You just said that Sean is your houseguest for the next week. So be mine. Spend time with me, no sex."  
"No sex? I might as well stay with Sean then." he grinned, and when he saw her expression sighed "what's the point in this little experiment?"  
"I just want to see if we can do it. We've never really spent time together without having sex."  
"you just were complaining about not having enough sex."  
"I know."  
"women" he shook his head "ok. what's the stakes?"  
"first one to give in gets whatever they want."  
"anything?"  
"anything."  
"You already know what I want to try." he grinned wickedly, making her blush  
"And we'll talk about that if you win."  
"when I win. and there will be no talking about it. Just doing. Agreed?"  
"Fine. But if I win, you have to take me to New York. To all the cheesy sight seeing places that you've seen a million times and be enthusiastic about it as well."  
"Seriously? That's what you'd want?"  
"Time, Norman, I just want your time"  
"ok fine. If you win I'll put on a fucking statue of liberty hat and take you to every fucking touristy place I can think of in New York."  
"Deal." she grinned  
"Wait, we need to set some ground rules. Like what is acceptable? Can I still touch you? Kiss you?"  
"You better kiss me." she smiled "We can still touch, snuggle, flirt, just if you take it to far and give in to sex, you're a loser."  
"seems like as a loser I'm a winner." When he saw the look she gave him he sighed "Fine. Yes. I will take you seriously. Sex is off the table. Until it's on the table. When you lose."  
"I thought you wanted-"  
"I want that too, but I'll have you anywhere, anyway I want. When I win."  
"If you win."  
"when I win." He repeated "When does this start? Like tomorrow? Because we need to get sex out of our systems if we're going to go a whole week without it."  
"Nope, it starts right now." Janie grinned  
He groaned, leaning his head into hers "seriously?"  
"Dead serious."  
"you're so going to be begging for me in a few days."  
"And no self pleasure" she remembered suddenly  
"Why are you making this so hard?"  
"are you hard?" she asked seductively  
He brushed her hand away before she could touch him to find out  
"Stop. you can't do that to me right now."  
"that's not part of the rules." she laughed  
"who is making up these rules?" he asked  
"Me, as they come to me."  
"You want to cum to me?" he asked, lowering his own voice to a seductive tone  
"desperately." she agreed "In a week. When I win."  
"Tease!" he called after her when she pulled away and walked back towards the party. When he caught up she was sitting around the fire with Sean, Andy, and Jeff, smiling and laughing  
"Where you been buddy?" Jeff asked, his arm around Janie as if they'd been friends forever  
"Just...taking my time." he sighed, sitting down beside Sean, across from Janie  
"So, you looking forward to having me as a house guest this next week?" Sean asked, slapping a hand on his back  
"Yep, it'll be a blast." he sighed  
"Just as long as you don't blast." Andy replied, and when Norman looked at him in confusion, he snorted laughter  
"Hey, no sex with my woman for a week and I'd be ready to blast." Jeff added  
"How did you?" Norman looked at all of them, and then his eyes landed on Janie's "Did you tell them-"  
Sean was doubled over in laughter "Your girlfriend should be an actress man. That was the most convincing, fucking funniest conversation I've heard in forever."  
"wait, what?" Norman was still half confused  
"He sounded like he was going to cry when she suggested it." Andy was laughing hysterically now too  
It took a minute for Norman to fully understand the situation. The guys had somehow convinced Janie to convince him that the two of them were engaged in some bet to not have sex. And now they were laughing hysterically  
"Aww, Norman, I'm sorry." Janie stood up and crossed over to him, sitting down on his lap and kissing his cheek "Sean called me this morning and asked me to help prank you. I couldn't bring myself to do anything mean, but..."  
"Mean! Telling me you're not going to have sex with me for a week is mean" he exclaimed, but laughed good naturedly, squeezing her tight   
Andy was still laughing "I wish we could have recorded your reaction. Funniest fucking thing ever."  
"Alright well the jokes on you guys, because I'm about to take my girlfriend home and have sex right now." he lifted her off his lap and she laughed in delight "oh, and Sean, we're going back to my place, and she's louder than hell."  
"Norman!" Janie exclaimed embarrassed  
"Nope, you don't get to be embarrassed now." he took her hand and pulled her into his body, hugging her against him so only she could feel his erection "say goodnight to the boys."  
"goodnight boys." she whispered quietly  
They were grinning, knowingly "Night Janie. Great meeting you."  
"Norman!" Jeff called after him, and he turned to see the three of them give him a thumbs up. He shook his head, and returned it with a middle finger, before leading her out to his truck.

~~ ~ ~~

"I am so sorry, I shouldn't have agreed to the prank." Janie apolgized when they'd entered Normans house. He'd been silent most of the ride back, and she wondered if he was partly mad at her.  
"No, you shouldn't have." he agreed, tossing his keys and phone down on the coffee table  
She leaned against the wall, swallowing hard "It was all in fun."  
"You know what's going to be fun now?" he asked, walking towards her, panther like  
"what?"  
"Making you pay." He wove his hands through her hair, tangling them in it, and brought his mouth to hers, kissing her hard, hungry, passionately. She moaned, running her hands up his chest under his shirt, her fingers skipping back down to the button on his jeans, feeling them tremble as she worked to undo it. He slid his hands down her back slowly, and up under her short dress, removing her underwear. She stepped out of them, stumbling slightly with her sandals, and he pushed her playfully, so that she fell over the arm of the couch, her ass half up in the air. He came behind her, pulling her hips to his and grinding against her. She could feel his hardness through his jeans, and whimpered. He was hoisting her up off her feet now,holding her against his chest and she barely protested as he directed her to his bedroom, where he dumped her unceromoniously onto the bed. She lay on her back, watching as he pulled his shirt off, and finished unzipping his jeans  
"you want to embarrass me in front of my friends?" he asked, glaring at her. There was a hardness to his voice, but in his eyes she saw the humor, the fact that he was turned on as much as she was.  
"I said I was sorry." she replied  
"Show me" he interupted  
She climbed off the bed and got down on her knees, peeling his jeans the rest of the way off, trailing her hands back up his hard cock. She took him in her mouth, working him with her hands as she licked and sucked, moaning along with him, feeling his hands tangled in her hair as he thrust inside her mouth, almost gagging her, but she kept up the pace, feeling more turned on at this rough play. Finally he pulled himself out of her mouth and helped her back to her feet. She lifted her arms to allow him to pull the dress over her head, and then she was back on the bed, and he was on top of her, entering her, thrusting hard and deep and making her cry out loud in pleasure, the sounds echoing his own. A funny thought entered her mind, about how it probably was a good thing Sean wasn't here right that moment, because she could hear how loud she was being. But her laughter was cut off by another moan as her orgasm hit, and his followed minutes later, and he was collapsing beside her on the bed. He pulled her close, so that her back was against his chest, and kissed her neck   
"sorry. Did I hurt you?"  
"No. I loved it."  
He squeezed her tighter, and she smiled. But inside she was panicing. She'd almost said, loved him, and that would have been a fucking disaster. She didn't tell men she loved them. And certainly not after only two months. But she did. She fucking loved this man.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Janie awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and opened her eyes to see Norman setting a steaming mug of it down next to her on the night stand  
"oh my God, thank you." she groaned, sitting up and taking a long swallow, without waiting for it to cool. Her body ached, but she wasn't about to complain, she'd enjoyed every minute of every part of their sex last night.  
He smiled and crawled back onto the bed with her, stretching out. "You're welcome. How are you feeling today?"  
"Sore." she admitted out loud with a small smile  
He smirked, and rubbed her upper thigh that was exposed sympathically "sorry if I was too rough with you."  
"I'm not. I like some kink."   
"I'm beginning to realized that." he grinned "so what's the plan for today?"  
She glanced at the clock, seeing that it was already after nine in the morning and fell back on the pillows with a sigh "I have to work."  
"What time?"  
"2. Until probably midnight. Sundays are the worst. Nothing exciting ever happens on a Sunday."  
"poor thing. I'd wish for some excitement for you, but it's bad karma to wish for an accident or a major tragedy to befall someone"  
"I still appreciate the thoughtfulness." she leaned into his chest "listen, about last night. I know that I was helping the guys fuck with your head, but some stuff I said was serious."  
He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder "please tell me it's not the no sex thing."  
"No." she laughed "but the time thing, totally serious."  
"I know. I wish there were more hours in the day. I meant it when i said I would love to spend them with you."  
"and I wasn't entirely joking about the New York City touristy destination stuff." she added "I've never got to do that before."  
He groaned "you're not fucking with my head again are you?"   
"No." she smiled, playing with his hand absently "I was thinking, maybe next time you get a small break, I could put in for a few days, and we could go away together. Do something like that. Unless of course, you think it's too soon. I know it's only been a few months and I'm not trying to rush you into anything -"  
"Janie." he cut her off "It feels like it's been longer than a few months, it feels like I've known you for forever. I'm comfortable with you, I think about you all the time, I want to spend time with you. And if going away, even for just a few days, is what you want, even if it is to do cheesy touristy stuff, I'll find a way to make it happen, if it's what makes you happy."  
"You make me happy." she replied with a sigh  
"Good. So We'll make this happen. Just...can sex stay on the table?"   
She laughed out loud again "sex can be whereever you want it to be."  
"promise."  
She pulled away, standing up and leaning over to kiss him lightly on the cheek "promise. But right now, I've got to get home and get a shower and start getting ready for work."  
"It's not even ten oclock yet." he protested as she disappeared into the bathroom to get dressed  
"IT takes time to look beautiful." she called over her shoulder  
"doubtful."  
"Hey." she came back out into the bedroom with a small frown "where's my underwear?"  
He grinned "We left it in the living room."  
She closed her eyes, a deep blush forming on her cheeks "please tell me Sean didn't come home yet."  
"He's the one who brewed the coffee." Norman was still grinning  
"well, can you go get them for me?"  
"Nope."  
"Norman, I'm in a dress. Commando."  
"Don't remind me." He was laying back on the bed, studying her  
She huffed "you are such a butthole."  
He was laughing as she opened the bedroom door, and walked down the short hallway to the kitchen, where she found Sean, shirtless, and wearing flannel pants, sitting at the table drinking coffee and messing with his phone  
"Morning sunshine." he greeted with a knowing grin.  
"Hi." she looked over towards the doorway, where Norman had removed her panties the night before but didn't spot them   
"How was your night?" he asked  
"Great, yours?"  
"fantastic."   
He watched as she walked around the living room, apparently looking for something  
"do you lose something?" he asked curiously  
"yes."  
"Well what is it? Maybe I can help find it." Sean offered, standing up  
"It's ok" she blushed, not ready to reveal to Sean that she was missing her underwear  
"I'm great at finding missing things." he insisted, joining her "tell me what i'm looking for"  
"you know what? It's not important." she stood up straight from where she was feeling around the couch cushions, even though she had no idea how they would of ended up there  
"give me something to go by."  
The man wouldn't drop it "It's gray, kind of like my dress." she replied  
"that would make it more of a silver wouldn't it?"  
"Dont' forget silky." Norman added, entering the room with a grin on his face  
She looked up, seeing the mischieveous look in his eyes "you son of a bitch!" she exclaimed, charging towards him  
"whoa" he laughed, catching her and holding her to him "if you're not careful you're going to give Sean a show."  
"which I wouldn't complain about." Sean shrugged, smiling innocently  
"You two are dicks." she exclaimed  
"guilty as charged." Sean was taking a drink from him coffee mug, and shared a secret smile with Norman.  
"that's fine." Janie shrugged, picking up her purse "I don't need them."  
"Are you sure? It's slightly breezy out there."  
"and I'm coming from your house so I'll make sure every papparazzi out there sees" she added, turning the tables on him  
"It's your nudie parts that will end up on the cover of a magazine."  
"Norman. If you don't hand over my undies, a magazine is the only way you'll ever see my nudie parts again." she replied sweetly  
"How come women can pull that card and it works so much better than a man?" Sean asked Norman  
"I don't know. I guess we're not as pretty to look at." Norman shrugged.   
"but it did work, right?" Janie asked  
"Yes, it worked. They're in the bedroom."  
"I'm going to hurt you." she huffed, pushing past him, hearing them both laughing as she reetered the bedroom to find her underwear on the bed. As she slipped them on Norman entered, still grinning  
"Still want to hurt me?" he asked  
"More than anything." she replied   
"How about a kiss instead? We'll call it even."  
She smiled, crossing over and planting a kiss on his lips "we're even, for now." she agreed

~ ~~ ~

"There's my favorite nurse." Jacob entered the breakroom to find Janie sitting with her legs propped on a neighboring chair, drinking a cup of hot tea. She would of went with coffee, but since it was getting to be late into the evening, she was afraid it might keep her awake when all she really wanted to do was go home and crash  
"Hey Jacob." she smiled at him  
"how you feeling?" he asked  
"Alot better." she assured him  
"Really? how's the head?" he came up behind her and began a slow massage on her neck "any soreness in the neck or shoulders?"  
"Some, when I turn my head a certain way, or too quickly, but nothing I can't handle." she replied, enjoying the neck massage for a second.  
"It's to be expected. Probably for another month or so, but then all the tenderness should be gone." His hands moved down lower to the front of her collar bone, almost slipping inside her scrub top as he kept up the pretense of giving her a massage.  
"Jake, stop." she sighed, taking his hand and moving it away gently  
"what's wrong? You don't like my massages anymore?"  
"It's not the massage, it's the vibe behind it. I don't want anyone getting the wrong impression."  
"we're the only ones in here." he shrugged, holding his hands out to gesture around the empty break room  
"Right." she stood up "Especially you. I don't want you getting the wrong idea. You're a nice guy. But we're co-workers, that's as far as our relationship will ever go."  
"I thought we had fun the few times we went out."  
"we did." she agreed "but then we decided to keep things professional remember? And not only that, I'm seeing someone."  
"oh that's right, that actor guy." he snorted in distain  
"He's a successful actor and artist." she corrected  
"Agreed. So how long do you think the two of you are going to last? It's not like you run in the same social circles." he pointed out "Isn't a hollywood romance period six months tops?"  
"I don't know how long it's going to work out, or if it's going to work out, or if it's going to be six months or six years or whatever, but I do know that I really like him and I don't appreicate your attitude towards my relationship with him."  
"I'm just trying to be realistic Janie. You're a nurse. You save lives, live in the real world, use your brain for medical purposes. He is an overpaid actor who gets to live in a pretend world. You need someone of your own intellectual level. Someone who can provide stability. Not someone who is running all over the world and and has hordes of fans. He probably sleeps with someone different in every city he's in."  
"Wow." Janie felt like she'd been slapped by the disrepect Jacob had just shown her "And I'd be better off with an arrogant asshole such as yourself?"  
"At least what I do, what we both do, has meaning. We save lives Janie. We're not here to entertain people. You're so much better than some temporary eye candy."  
"Thanks for the talk. I better get back to work." She was raging mad, and knew if she didn't get away from him, she'd end up throat punching him  
"I just think maybe you hit your head harder than you think. When you realize it, come find me, I'll be waiting" he called after her  
"You'll be waiting a long ass time." she called after herself as she excited the break room, but didn't miss the 'we'll see' he responded with as she left.  
She rounded the corner and blinked back the tears, nearly running into Lena in her hurry to get away  
"whoa" Lena grabbed her upper arms to steady her with a laugh as they almost collided, then seeing her face frowned "what's wrong? What happened?"  
"Nothing." Janie wiped a tear away from her cheek angerily  
Lena took her by the arm and led her to an empty patient room "talk to me, what's up, is it Norman?"  
"No, Normans...Normans great." she replied  
"Then talk to me honey what's going on?"  
She told Lena about the conversation she just had with Jake.  
"what a fuck-tard!" Lena exclaimed, angry herself now "and to think I thought that man was sexy."  
"The thing is, all he did was voice all my own insecurities out loud." Janie sighed "I don't know how long it's going to last with Norman. And we don't run in the same circles, and he is gone all the time, and I'm not the kind of typical eye candy a celebrity has hanging on their arm."  
"Did you ever stop to think, that maybe all the reasons you just named for thinking you shouldn't be with Norman, are exactly the reasons he wants to be with you?" Lena asked, and when Janie looked at her she shrugged "It probably gets exhausting, living the life he leads. Maybe he likes the fact that you're not like the typical woman he would date."  
"Maybe." Janie shrugged "I just think-"  
"I just think" Lena interupted "that you're over thinking things too much. You're happy right?"  
"Yes."  
"than just be happy honey. There are no gaurantees in life, with anything. Hell we both know that, we see it day in and day out that no one is promised tomorrow. So Enjoy your time with Norman. If it lasts a week, a month, a year, who gives a shit. Just be happy."  
"That's good advice." Janie smiled "Maybe you should have been a psychiatrist."  
"those quacks." she sighed, "what do they know?"  
That make them both laugh, because Lena was indeed seeing a psychiatrist, just not for the kind of therapy one usually sees a pyschiatrist for.  
"thanks for the pep talk."   
"Anytime love." Lena hugged her tightly "and forget about Jake. He's irrelevant. Well, when it comes to you and your relationship. He's relevant because he's the doctor on call tonight, unforturnately."


	6. Slowly falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Months have passed. Happiness abounds...for now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shortness of this. Haven't had much time, and had some writers block. Wanted to get this up while I was in the writing mood. I know there's some spelling errors, please ignore that for now.

"Tell me how it is that you wanted to go away somewhere, but yet you have a fear of flying." Norman observed Janie, who was squirming in her seat on the plane, playing with her seat belt and re reading the safety flyers over and over, and they hadn't even lifted off yet.   
"I know, it's crazy. I'm ok once I'm in the air. It's just the take off, and the landing, and sometimes the turbulance. Other than that, I'm all good." She tried to smile at him  
"Is that all?"  
"It pretty much sums it up." She nodded, really smiling this time  
He rubbed her leg playfully "you'll be fine. Just think of all the stuff you want to do and see and not about the fact that your are thousands of feet up in the air."  
"you are such a butthole!" she laughed, swatting at him playfully, causing him to laugh out loud.  
"sorry" he caught her next blow with his hand and held it close to him, giving her a small kiss on the lips. "I couldn't help it, you were an easy mark."  
"You're calling me easy?"  
"only sometimes." he smiled  
"you like it."   
"I do." he agreed  
Even though they were sitting in first class people were walking by as they talked, making their way to their seats, and suddenly they both heard a small gasp. Norman turned, as if not surprised by this, his hand still on Janie's knee, and smiled at the teenaged girl staring with her mouth half open  
"Hello." he greeted her  
"Hi." she said it almost inaudibly, she seemed to be in shock "I know I shouldn't bother you, but could I maybe get a picture with you?"  
"sure." he leaned out into the aisle alittle and she bent down, snapping a selfie of the two of them.  
"thank you so much." she was more excited now, and she turned to look at Janie, as if just noticing her for the first time "sorry to bother you." she added   
"it's not a problem. Have a good one." Norman smiled at her as he settled back in beside Janie. They watched as she hurried off  
"you just made that girls day you know." Janie smiled  
"It makes mine too. One of these days no one is even going to care that i'm on a plane. At least not enough to want a picture."  
"I think you have a long way to go before that ever happens." she laughed  
"You know you're going to end up on the internet now right?" he warned  
"As long as it's not another leaked porn video I'll be ok. I had so much trouble living down the last one." she joked  
He let out a short, sharp laugh "I would've liked to of seen that."  
"you see me all the time." she rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat  
"totally different scenerio. Not on camera."  
"Never gonna happen." she leafed through a magazine, dismissing him  
"never say never."  
"I just did." she shook her head "never."  
"We'll see." he replied nonchantantly but before she could protest the pilot came on announcing they were ready for take off. She squeezed Normans hand hard as the plane raced down the runway gaining speed until they were passing things in almost a blur, then she glanced out the window as they lifted into the air. She sucked in a deep breath as she watched the houses, the trees, the land, growing smaller and smaller, until they were pretty much invisible  
"hey." Norman broke her silence, rubbing her arm gently when they'd steadied "you ok?"  
"I'm ok," she replied, letting out a breath of air she hadn't realized she'd been holding "It's like I'm petrified of it, but I can't close my eyes either. If something is going to happen, I want to see it."  
"nothing's going to happen." his voice was soothing. "Except maybe you breaking my hand."  
"I'm so sorry!" she forgot she was holding it so tight and let go, noticing how hard she'd been grasping onto him  
He smiled "It's fine. Tell me what's the first thing you want to see when we get to New York? Besides my bedroom, that is"  
She appreicated the distraction "Is that a normal stop on the Norman Reedus tour?" she asked  
He grinned, and shrugged his shoulders, and Janie laughed, knowing that there was probably a lot of truth to what she'd just asked, but she wasn't going to let it bother her. Just like she'd spotted out of the corner of her eye, the teenage girl and another girl, snapping pictures of Norman and looking at them, whispering among themselves like it was a big conspirasy. It wasn't that Janie had hid her relationship with Norman these last six months, it's just that he had a busy schedule and so did she, so their time out in public was pretty rare. They'd been spotted at dinner a time or two, but usually they were among a larger crowd of people so no one really questioned who she was or why she was there. But this time, being seen out together, word was going to spread. They were headed to New York for Memorial Day weekend. He had finally gotten the chance to make good on his promise to show her all the cheesy touristy sights that he had agreed to months ago. Their first real weekend away together.He'd prepared her what might happen when people saw them out, and while she told herself that she was ready for whatever the public threw at her, it still made her nervous. If they refused to accept her,would that impact his feelings towards her? She sighed inwardly. She wasn't even sure what his feelings towards her were. They'd still not discussed that. She knew he cared about her, but other than that, she hadn't tried to push the issue. Mainly because then she'd be forced to address her own feelings, and to be honest, they scared the hell out of her even more than flying did.

~ ~~ ~

The apartment was large and open, the windows allowing the sunlight to stream through onto the beautiful hardwood floors, giving it a welcome, homey vibe. She loved it the minute she stepped into it. She found white walls boring, but there was enough eccentric art and photographs on the walls to be eye catching without being gaudy, and she dropped her purse onto the leather couch. She could feel him standing behind her, observing her silently. She didn't know if he was silently judging her as she silently judged his place, but she turned to him with a smile of approval, and met his own smile of approval back. He crossed to her, his hands in her hair, kissing her roughly, passionately, on the lips.  
"What was that about?" she finally was able to mumble  
"Just you. You're beautiful. Standing here in my living room. And the way you handled yourself at the airport, it was impressive."  
"I was just being nice to people who were being nice to me."  
"No, you embraced people. You chatted, you didn't make them feel alienated about coming up and talking. You were patient, and respectful and...just fucking normal about it all. You don't know what it's like, the worry of bringing someone into this world. I was waiting for you to turn and head back to the plane, but you didn't waiver once among all those people."  
"I hate flying, remember?" she tried to joke  
"that's right. So you're kinda stuck with me."  
"Kinda." she agreed, twisting her hands in his shirt "there's no where else I really want to be right now though." She kissed him this time, just as fiercely as he'd kissed her  
"What about all your touristy places?" he reminded  
"Well, I think you said something about the tour starting here, right?" she mumbled  
"That's right, the Reedus Room."   
"It's got a name?"  
"It's been called a few things. The house of pleasure. The palace of pain, the-"  
"bullshit barn?" she interupted with a raised eyebrow  
"That too. Only I'm not bullshitting right now am I?" he carressed her cheek gently, ran his fingers down the inside of her arm  
"you don't play fair." she complained  
"I don't play fair?" he countered. He took her hand and placed it over his hard bulge "I think it's pretty obvious whose got more stake in this right now."  
"If you only fucking knew" she mumbled under her breath, feeling her heart beating faster  
"what?" he asked, and she was glad he hadn't been able to make out what she'd just said  
"It's not important." she hooked her arm around his neck "ok, show me the bed of bliss."  
"hey that's a good one, can I add that to my-ouch" he laughed and pulled away slightly when she punched him lightly in the shoulder  
"That was called my punch of pain, you want another?"   
"that was a punch of pain? You punch like a girl."  
"Lucky for you I am a girl."  
"Lucky for me" he pulled her back to him, hugging her tightly "Alright, lets go have a break in the bed experience."  
"I'm sure it's probably already broken in just fine." she laughed as he pulled her towards the bedroom  
"Actually. It's new. I had it delivered last week."  
"seriously?" she stopped before they entered the room  
"Yeah." he shrugged as if it were no big deal "I mean, it's no secret that I'm not a virgin..."  
"you're not???" she pulled back in mock shock and he smiled  
"I'm trying to have a serious moment here."   
"sorry." she forced her face to be serious "go on."  
" I don't even know, I just thought, bringing you here, doing something new with you, I kinda wanted everything...new."  
"Norman." she sighed, feeling the butterflies in her stomach "you are either the sweetest man I've ever met, or the smoothest man, I can't decide which."  
"Can I have points for both?" he asked with a grin  
"Points for both." she agreed "ok." she grinned back excitedly "lets go do this."  
"What is it a personal mission for you now?" he laughed "breaking in the bed?"  
"No, the mission is to show you that once I've been on that bed, you won't want anyone else on that bed."  
He met her grin with his own, and pulled her into the bedroom


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had twice as much written, but lost it :-( I am upset right now, but ended up going a different direction anyway.

"This has got to be the best cheesecake I have ever tasted." Janie closed her eyes in bliss as she took another bite of the rich dessert that she'd devoured over half of already, even though she had previously insisted she'd been too full for dessert ten minutes earlier.  
"Well, New York Style cheesecake doesn't get it's name for nothing." Norman agreed  
"I guess I just assumed it was like a brand name, you know? I never thought of it being an authentic thing."  
"Not authentic? Like, Chicago style pizza? You think it taste the same bought from a store as from a real authentic restaurant in Chicago?"  
She shrugged "I've never ate it from a real Chicago restaurant."  
"Where have you been living all these years? Under a rock?"  
"No, in Atlanta. Where they have Chicago style Pizza and New York Style Cheescake, just, not in an authentic restaurant. I've always thought it tasted just fine though."  
"well, imitation is a sincere form of flattery." he reached his fork over and took a bite of her cheesecake "but nothing is as good as the real deal."  
"That makes me think"  
"That sounds like trouble." he teased  
"I'm just thinking, you have a lot of imitators, if I were to ever hook up with one of them, I could conduct a real life experiment." she teased  
"Now, why would you want an imitator when you've got the real deal?"   
"hmm, I guess you have a point." she smiled, pushing her plate away. "I'm finished with that."  
"You're deflecting." he countered, taking the plate and finishing the cheesecake, and it surprised her that he sounded slightly angry  
"It was meant as a joke. I didn't mean anything by it, sorry if I offended you." she apologized. When he kept eating instead of answering, she placed her hand on his arm as he focused on the last bite of cheesecake "hey, seriously, I don't want anything to do with your cheap imitations, ok?"   
He nodded "Sorry, sometimes certain comments get to me. I know you didn't mean anything by it. It's my own insecurities."  
"Your insecurities?" she couldn't help but smile "Norman, we're sitting in the middle of a crowded restaurant in New York City. Every time I look up I see someone looking at us. All I can think is how every single one of them, at least the women, maybe even some men, are wondering what the hell you're doing here with me. That i'm not pretty enough, or skinny enough, or good enough, or famous enough, or whatever enough, to earn a spot at this table with you. It's like I feel the hate radiating off of people. Baby we can compare insecurities all night long but all you really need to know is that I want you, and only you. And I'm sorry if my joke hurt your feelings."  
He pushed the empty plate away "apology accepted. You'll just have to prove it to me later."  
"didn't I prove it to you earlier?"  
"That's a moot point. You really made me doubt your feelings and I need reassurance."  
She laughed lightly "well, if my punishment for hurting your feelings is sex then maybe I should do it more often."  
"yeah, maybe please don't" he smiled softly at her, then gestured with his head toward the door "want to get out of here? Do some more exploring?"  
"Absolutely." she stood up, and he put his hand on the small of her back, leading her through the crowded restaurant, stopping to greet a few people who stopped him along the way, being gracious enough to take a picture and shake some hands before they stepped out onto the sidewalk, where he pulled her close to him briefly   
"just so you know, I think you're pretty enough, and whatever enough for me, and that's all you need to care about."  
She wasn't a crier, but that sentence had her blinking back tears as she hugged him tightly "you're deflecting now." she said instead  
"how is that?"  
"because there's still a ton of places to see and I think you're just trying to get me back to the apartment."  
"slightly guilty." he laughed "alright, where to next?"  
"I don't know, Liberty Island? Rockefeller Center? The Metropolitan Museum of Art?" she rattled off several more places in excitement  
"wow, you weren't kidding? You really want the grand tour huh?" he laughed  
"I want it all." she agreed  
"okay, then you got it. Let's narrow down your top five, and make them prioritiy, and if anything we'll just have to come back to finish the rest."  
She smiled, more at the idea that he already was suggesting coming back with her, but also because of the look on his face "you already know what I'm picking don't you?"  
"My guess? The Statue of Liberty."  
"It's an American Icon, I've got to see it."  
"I'm not agruing the point. Agreed. Now that you're out from under that rock in Georgia we apparently got alot of exploring to do. Including a trip to Chicago."  
"Chicago? Why?"  
"so you can have real Chicago Style Pizza. Not something bought from a grocery store or a little shop that claims to be Chicago Style."

 

~ ~~ ~

It was late by the time they arrived back at his place, and Janie's feet were killing her from walking so much. Norman had warned her to wear comfortable shoes, but she'd chosen style over comfort and now she was paying the price.   
She pulled the boots off with a small sigh, wiggling her toes to get some circulation flowing again as he disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, with a beer for each of them, and handing her one, plopped down on his sofa beside her  
"thank you so much for today." she grinned "It was probably the best day I've had in a long time."  
"despite the camera flashes and interuptions for autographs?" he asked wearily  
"despite all that. I feel kind of bad actually, because it was you that was subjected to all that, while I got to take in the scenery."  
"Well, I have seen it all a thousand times, but I do wish I'd had alittle more privacy with you."  
"we're alone now." she pointed out  
"Yes we are." he smiled and pulled her into his arms. she closed her eyes against the feel of his hands running up and down her bare arms, and heard herself sigh when his lips met her own in a kiss. She wound her arms around his neck and had just pulled him down closer onto her to deepen the kiss when a knock sounded on his door. They both stopped in surprise, looking at the door  
"hold that thought." he sighed, pushing himself up off the couch and standing up  
"expecting anyone?" she asked curiously, sitting up straight on the couch and straightening her slightly disheveled clothes  
He gestured to his somewhat obvious aroused state "obviously not." he informed her, looking out the peep hole and sighed "fuck."   
She heard his swear word under his breath and craned her neck curiously to see who was at the door.   
"Excuse me a minute." he said to her, before opening it only enough to squeeze himself out. She caught a glimpse of brown hair and frowned, curiousity getting the best of her and she made her way to the door, glancing out the peep hole to see him standing on the front porch, arms crossed, talking to a woman with beautiful long, brown hair and a dancers body. She tried to hear what they were saying but only caught bits and peices  
-can't just drop by unannounced  
-I wanted to see you  
-I have company  
-oh? the woman I've been seeing pictures of you with? She scoffed and it made Janie slightly angry   
-yes  
-you can't be serious Norman. She's a nobody  
-who are you to judge?  
-please, she's a playtoy, and that's it....-remember what a fun play toy I was? Don't tell me you don't miss that. The woman's voice was seductive, and she couldn't hear what Norman replied, but she could see the woman reach out and touch his arm lightly, playfully, familiarly.   
She saw Norman leaning closer to hear, talking softly, barely above a whisper. She didn't want to know what he was saying. The way they stood, close, intimate, it was obvious they had been more than friends. Maybe they still were. Hell, she could of been fooling herself this whole time. They'd made no promises to each other to be exclusive, it was just her dumb brain that assumed they were.  
Janie didn't want to watch anymore, and she backed away from the door, feeling her stomach sink. She wanted to cry, but was shaking from anger too. She wanted to go out there and confront the two of them, demand an explanation. But she had no justification. He was free to talk to who he wanted, male or female, just as she was. Still, just the thought. She downed her bottle of beer and stripped her clothes off, making her way into the bathroom and into the shower, feeling suddenly dirty.   
The spray of the hot water felt good on her body, and she stayed under it longer than she needed too. About fifteen minutes later she heard the rattle of the doorknob, but she'd locked the door, unintenionally or not, she wanted to be left alone in that moment. A few minutes later she heard a knock on the door and she sighed, finally turnning the water off  
"yeah?" she called, stepping out and reaching for a towel  
"What are you doing?" he called through the door  
"taking a shower. I feel grimy from exploring all day."  
"ok, but why is the door locked?"  
"privacy?" she called back  
"Since when?"  
She wrapped the towel around herself and unlocked the door. The bathroom was hot and steamy as he stared in at her  
"better?" she asked sarcastically, moving past him  
"No, this is." he grabbed the towel as she moved, pulling it from her body before she knew what was happening  
"Norman!" she exclaimed, instintly covering herself with her arm "give me that."  
He pulled the towel further away from her grasp playfully but instead of finding it endearing it annoyed her and she huffed impatiently "fine." she turned down the hall to the bedroom, where she pulled a pair of panties from her bag and slid them on. As she rifled through her bag for a shirt she looked up to see him standing in the doorway, watching her intently  
"What's up with you?" he asked  
"oh I don't know, I guess I feel more comfortable if I'm dressed in case anymore visitors decide to drop by." she replied sarcastically, sliding a shirt over her head and reaching for a pair of jeans  
"It's not what it looked like, Noami is just a friend." he informed her  
"pretty friendly friend" she replied dryly  
"there's nothing between us anymore." he informed her  
"anymore." Janie snorted, sitting down on the bed to put on some socks "does she know that? Because it looked like she was ready to pick up whereever it was you two left off."  
"Jealousy isn't cute on you." he replied with narrowed eyes  
"I wasn't trying to be cute. I was stating the obvious."  
"Isn't it obvious I wasn't into her?" he asked  
"You looked cozy from what I saw."  
"From a peephole?" he raised his eyebrow "did you peep long enough to hear me tell her to leave?"  
"No, but I guess that's because I was too curious about why she felt it was ok to stop by in the first place. Especially since we've been seeing each other long enough now she'd have no reason too, unless she somehow assumed you'd be letting her in."  
"I don't know what Naomi assumes. She beats to her own drum. Either way I told her to leave" He moved to sit beside her own the bed but she turned from him slightly, pretending to straighten out her sock. She didn't want him to see the hurt on her face or know how much the thought of some other woman trying to lay claim to him hurt her.  
"It's not important." she shrugged  
"obviously it is." he touched her back, caressing it softly  
"look, I'm not stupid. I know you have had plenty of other women." Janie stood up, sighing hard "I guess I just kind of stupidly thought that since I was in the picture, they wouldn't be."  
"They're not Janie" he stood up to face her "Naomi doesn't mean shit to me ok? Yes, we were involved in the past, but it's been over for awhile now. I had absolutely no idea she was going to show up here tonight."  
"what if she had, and you'd been alone?" She asked curiously  
"What do you mean?"  
"It's a simple question. If I hadn't of been with you tonight, would you have let her in?"  
"You really have to ask me that?" he stepped back, looking slightly angery himself now  
"I don't know what to think." She replied honestly "I don't know what to think about you, or Naomi, or us. We haven't talked about our feelings, or where we stand with each other, or if we're exclusive, or any of the stuff normal couples talk about. Are we even a fucking normal couple? or are we just fucking?"  
"If I just wanted to fuck you I could of been done with you that first week."   
She was sure the shocked expression on his face matched her own when her hand reached out and slapped him across   
the cheek "I'm sorry!" she said quickly. She'd been so angry at the implied slut reference that she'd been unable to control herself. Now shame filled her body and she blinked back the tears  
He put his hand to his cheek, felt the hot sting of her handprint on his cheek, and glowered at her  
"What about you?" he asked, voice low  
"What about me?" she asked, swallowing  
"Fuck Janie I'm not blind. I see how that Doogie Howser Doctor looks at you." he replied, referring to Doctor Mack" I see how a lot of the doctors look at you. Are you telling me you've never been involved with any of them? Don't talk to any of your exes?"  
"It's different. I work with them. and Jacob and I are just friends. We went out a time or two, but it never progressed to anything more than a kiss. And that was over a year ago."  
"but you didn't feel the need to tell me about him."  
"because he's irrelevant." she shouted angerily  
"So he's irrelevant, but Naomi can't be?"  
"I didn't fuck Jacob."  
"Well I'm sorry, but i've fucked a lot of people Janie. And Naomi isn't the only one you'll ever come face to face with as long as we're dating. But what matters is if you trust me. And if you do, you know that they don't matter."  
She hung her head, unwilling, unable to respond back to him  
"So do you?" he asked quietly  
"Do I what?"  
"trust me?" he was staring at her intensely  
She swallowed hard "I don't distrust you."  
"that's not an answer." he replied "I asked if you trusted me"  
"I want to." she replied quitely, averting her eyes  
"So no then? he asked quitely  
"I have a hard time trusting anyone Norman. It's nothing personal." she mumbled  
"Actually it is. Completely personal" when she looked at him he shrugged "If we can't trust each other then there's no point in a relationship is there?"  
"Norman." her voice came out in a croak, but it was all she managed to get out before he was walking towards the door   
"I'm going for a bike ride. The weather will be too cold up here to do it soon. Don't wait up. I'll crash on the couch when I get back."  
"Norman wait!" she hurried after him "please don't go. Let's just try to talk this out."  
"Janie." he sighed, slipping on his leather coat and picking up his keys "You basically just told me that you're not sure you can trust me. And that's the one thing I need in a relationship. Sex is great, friendship is great, but trust is a requirement. I'll book us a flight back to Georgia for tomorrow."  
His name died on her lips as he hurried out the door, slamming his apartment door behind him. And she sunk down onto her knees, finally crying the tears she'd been so desperately trying to hold back. 

~ ~~ ~

"How you doing love?" Kaley entered Janie's kitchen after knocking once, bringing with her a bag of bagels and two freshly brewed cups of coffee  
"I have coffee." Janie protested, but thanked her anyway as she took the hot steamy cup  
"Are you sure?" Kaley looked around the almost bare kitchen "because when I was in here yesterday feeding Monster, I looked in the fridge. There's nothing in there besides a half carton of milk, something leftover I couldn't identify, and some condiments. when's the last time you went grocery shopping?"  
Janie shrugged and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them "I don't keep a lot of fresh food in the house, I'm at the hospital too much."  
"Yeah, I know. These long hours you've been working are insane. You're going to burn yourself out. You haven't had a decent nights sleep or probably a decent meal in weeks."  
"I'm not really hungry."  
"If you don't start taking care of yourself, you're going to end up in the hospital as a patient instead of as a nurse." Kaley pushed a bagel towards her "I got you the cinnamon crunch, I know it's your favorite. Don't make me force it down your throat."  
Janie sighed, tearing at a piece of the bagel "I'm just trying to stay busy."  
"lt's been two weeks Janie. Why don't you just call him?" Kaley asked softly  
"and say what?" she sighed "I'm sorry I acted like a jealous psycho path and pushed you away?"  
"that's a start." she joked, which managed to bring a small smile to Janies lips "look, you may have over reacted. But you were also justified. I think you two just need to talk it out."  
"If he wanted to talk to me, he would have called by now."  
"or maybe he's waiting for you to call him."  
"Doubtful." Janie snorted  
Kaley reached a hand across the table and stared at Janie seriously "you've got to start trusting people sometime. Maybe it's time you let him in."  
"It's too late." Janie sighed "besides, I wouldn't even know how to begin."  
"With sorry?"  
"That's just it. I am sorry, but I'm not. Because this whole fight just left me with the same unanswered questions. We've been dating over six months. What the fuck are we doing with each other? He's called me his girlfriend, and sometimes I feel like he's really into me, but then other times I just feel...alone. Like someone he calls when he wants to get off. And i'm so fucking stupid that I just run to him like a little slut. But we've never talked about if we're exclusive, or if we're just...friends with benefits, or anything like that. and at first I kept telling myself it was too soon to have that kind of talk, but the more time I spend with him the harder I fall, and I don't want to get six more months down the road, or even another month down the road, and find out that I am exactly what that girl said about me at the door, a nothing, a plaything that he will eventually grow tired of when someone new comes along."  
"first of all, I don't ever want you to refer to yourself again as a nothing. That pisses me off. You are somebody. You're a God damn nurse that saves lives on a daily basis. You have value. You're beautiful. And secondly, you should be having this conversation with Norman, not with me."  
"I just think it's better if I forget about him and move on."   
"Ok. How's that going for you?" she asked sarcastically, staring at her sitting in her pajama pants "any plans to shower today?"  
"It's my day off!" Janie protested  
"Then lets get out and have some fun." Kaley suggested "move on, like you said."  
"I'll go take a shower."  
"please do. I'll wait for you. and maybe do a little cleaning while I'm waiting." she added more to herself as Janie stood up to make her way slowly to the bathroom.

~ ~~ ~

"Norman, if you're that fucking miserable, than just call Janie. Tell her your sorry and you want to try to make things right."  
Norman glared at Jeff over the top of his beer bottle "I have nothing to apologize for."  
Andy, who had been sitting silently next to him, observing the whole conversation, laughed out loud "You're kidding right? You're a guy. There's always a reason to apologize, even when there isn't."  
"Andy's right." Jeff nodded, propping his feet up on the porch railing "women eat that shit up."  
"But she's the one who-"  
"We know, accused you of not being truthful. But put yourself in her shoes. You're at a house. A strange man...fuck, let's have some fun with this, Dr. Doogie shows up at her door, and she excuses herself. Has a private conversation with him, and then comes back inside like it's no big deal. Now it could be as innocent as the fucking weather outside, but are you going to tell me you wouldn't feel slightly threatened?"  
"I wouldn't of went ballistic the way she did."  
"Women have stronger emotions than men." Jeff shrugged "it's a natural response when they feel treatened."  
"I've never given her any reason to feel threatened." Norman protested  
"but have you ever given her any reason not too?" Andy asked  
"Isnt' that the same thing?"  
"No." he sighed "Women need to hear this shit. A woman shows up at your door, you tell her not to worry, but what reason does she have not too? Have you promised her an exclusive relationship?"  
"No, but she knows i would never cheat on her."  
"How does she know?" Jeff asked  
"Because, I'm not a cheater."  
"but how does she know?" he repeated "Unless you've physically said, Janie, I would never cheat on you, she doesn't know."  
"Unless you've already established the not seeing other people policy." Andy piped in "If you've done that, than she did over react a tad bit."  
"We've never actually said the words, but she knows how much I care about her, she should just know." Norman replied aggitated  
"For the handsome devil you are, you don't know shit about women do you?" Andy asked  
"I've had a lot more women than you." Norman pointed out  
"Precisely the point." Andy shrugged, and when Norman looked at him he continued "she's not stupid. she sees women throw themselves at you on a daily basis. She sees the gifts they sent you. And yet she's not suposed to feel insecure or jealous? Especially when one of them shows up at your door?"  
"so basically you both are siding with her, and all this is my fault." Norman sighed  
"No buddy, we're not siding with anyone. We're playing devils advocate. Women need reassurance. And women like Janie, they're not going to come asking for it. She's strong and independant, probably as much as you. which is why the two of you made such a good couple. We just want you to think about it before you act hastily and throw what you have away."  
"too fucking late." Norman sighed, standing up suddenly  
"where are you going?" Jeff called as he began walking to his truck  
"you two may be married. But I'm free and single. Screw this relationship talk. I'm about to go make myself feel better with some mindless sex."  
"don't." Andy said to Jeff when Jeff tried to caution him "he'll come around. I doubt he even follows through. He knows were right."  
"What if he does?"  
"then he's a stupid fuck that is going to allow himself to lose a good woman. Won't be the first time."


	8. Chapter 8

The pizza smelled delicious. Janie could feel her mouth watering as she entered the Chicago Style pizza restaurant, and sighed at the warmth that surrounded her from the moment she stepped inside. Chicago in November was freezing, a big change from the Georgia weather, which, although was considerably cooler, still didn't require heavy jackets and gloves, and certainly didn't have snow falling at the moment. Her decision to enter the restaurant had been a last minute one. She'd left the medical conference and was heading back to her hotel when she passed the restaurant. She'd hesitated at the door, looking through the window, seeing the small, dimly lit room inside. The tables were square, with red checkered table clothes, a candle sitting at each one, giving it a dimly lit, almost   
romantic atmosphere. The lights inside overhead were dimly lit as well, and Janie wondered for a minute how people would even be able to read a menu. There were pictures that lined the walls, and she studied them, realizing it was the same family, going back generations, that must of owned this restaurant. It had a slightly mobbish feel to it, although she was certain that was because she'd seen one too many gangster movies in her day. It made her smile.  
"Hello dear." A round elderly waitress approached her, "are you dining alone tonight?"  
"That sounds so pathetic." she managed to joke "Maybe I'll just take my order to go back to the hotel."  
"Nonsense. " the woman waved off her concerns, and lead her to a corner booth "you just sit right here and make yourself comfortable. It's freezing out there anyway. By the time you got back to the hotel, your pizza would be cold."  
"I supose you're right."  
"I'll give you a few minutes to look over the menu. What would you like to drink?"  
"Just an icewater please." Janie told her, then meeting her disapproving look shrugged "ok, an ice water and a beer."  
"that's more like it." the woman smiled "I'll be back in a minute. Take your time to look over the menu."  
"thanks." Janie pulled off her jacket and set it beside her in the booth, picking up the menu. There didn't seem to be a such thing as a small deep dish pizza, so either way she was going to be carrying leftovers back to the hotel it seemed, she thought to herself as she studied the menu.  
"what brings you out on a night like tonight?" The woman asked when she reappeared at the table, with a glass of water and a bottle of beer. Janie read her name tag as Rose, and wondered if she'd always worked at the restaurant. Perhaps she was even an owner, she fit right in with the ambiance of it all.  
"There's a big medical conference in town this weekend. Important doctors from all over the country are coming together to discuss some new medical break throughs for terminially ill patients. I'm filling in for a staff member who couldn't make the meeting."  
"where are you from?" she asked curiously  
"Georgia."  
"Whoa, shock to the system with this weather." she joked, shaking her head "To be honest with you, we almost shut down tonight, but there's also another big conference going on this weekend, so we've been swamped with tourist from all over. Not to say it's not good for business, it's certainly kept me hopping." she added with a laugh "Maybe I'll work off some of this butt."  
Janie couldn't help but laugh back "Well, this pizza all sounds delicious, I'm afraid if I eat it all, my butt is going to be growing."  
"It's all good honey, men like some cushion, don't they sweetheart?" she added, addressing the man who had just come through the doors, bringing in a gust of cold air with him.  
"Absolutely Rose!"   
Janies stomach sank and she did a double take when she recognized the voice, and turned to see Norman brushing snow off of himself. Of all the restaurants, in all of Chicago, she chose the one he happened to wander into?  
"are you all alone sweetheart?" Rose asked  
"yes."  
"well so is this young lady, you know how I don't like anyone to be strangers, why don't you join her?"  
It was then that Norman noticed Janie sitting at the booth "Actually, I know her." he informed Rose  
"really? " Rose looked surprised "Well it's a damn small world."  
"I haven't seen her in a while though." he added  
"Then sit, get reaquanited. I'll bring you out a menu. A beer for you as well?" she asked  
"Sounds great." Norman nodded, stopping at Janie's table to study her "do you mind?" he asked  
"I'm more afraid of Rose than you right now, sit." Janie replied  
A small grin formed on his face "how are you?"  
"Surprised. You're the last person I expected to see this weekend." she replied honestly  
"that makes two of us. I'm in town for a comic convention. You?"  
"A medical convention. I'm staying at the hotel across the street. Saw the sign for this deep dish Chicago place and decided to try it."  
"Rose and Ritz have the best." he agreed  
"You know this place?" she asked surprised  
"I don't go anywhere else." he informed her "plus,I'm also across the street."  
"oh." she replied quitely  
"and I saw you come in here." he added  
She glanced up from the menu in surprise, and he shrugged  
"I am here for a comic convention, but I knew you were at a medical convention. I guess I should be ashamed to admit that I followed you back to your hotel. I was suprised as hell see it was my own. Even more suprised to see you wander on in here."  
"you said I needed to try the deep dish." she shrugged, trying not to let on that she was secretly pleased he'd been keeping tabs on her. With someone else, it might seem creepy. With him...it just seemed right.  
"So what did you decide on?" he asked curiously, gesturing to the menu  
"I have no idea. There are so many choices. And they all seem huge."  
"They are huge. I'd go with the house special. Can't go wrong with the toppings on it."  
She glanced down, nodding in agreement "want to share with me?"  
"I'd like that." he smiled at her as Rose returned with his beer and pulled out her pad of paper   
"so what'd you all decide on?" she asked  
Norman placed their order and Rose nodded as if she approved of the choice "It'll be about a half hour, being deep dish, so that'll give you all some time to catch up. You just hollar if you want another beer, or water." she smiled before hurrying off  
"She seems sweet." Janie observed, for lack of anything better to say  
"Rose is like everyones grandma." Norman agreed "awesome all the way around."  
"how have you been?" Janie finally asked, forcing herself to ask the question she'd been wanting to ask since he walked through the door  
"I've been...good. Busy. We just wrapped, actually. So I have a few conventions to attend and then I'm on holiday after that for awhile."  
"Got any plans for the Holiday?" she asked curiously  
"Nothing set in stone. I like to go someplace warm and tropical over Christmas and the New Year, but I haven't pin pointed an exact location yet. What about you?"  
"I'll probably spent Thanksgiving with a few friends, but I usually go to Texas for Christmas, my mom and brother and sister all live there, it's become somewhat of a Christmas tradition at this point."  
"So I never asked, and I probably should have, so forgive me. But how did you end up as a an ER nurse in Atlanta Georgia when you're from Texas?"  
"oh,you know, college rebellion. I was young. I wanted to be away from my family, but not too far away. And I wanted someplace warm. I ended up moving up with a few friends to Georgia, and went to school there. After I finished my residency I was offered a job and decided I wanted to stay. It was never the plan, but it worked out well. I can't say I regret my choice to go the direction I did. I'm happy and succcessful in my career."  
"That's an important aspect of any career. Happiness." he agreed  
"I know you're happy with yours." she pointed out  
"Most of the time, yes." he replied.  
"But not always?"  
"Sometimes it has it'd disadvantages."  
"I can imagine." she sighed  
"No, you can't." he replied, playing with the pepper shaker between his hands "It's hard, living a normal life when you're always in the public eye. You tend to doubt the motives of everyone around you, and you build a wall that keeps the real you hidden from the public eye. After a while, you just...get used to acting out a lifestyle that people expect you to act out. It's very rare that someone comes along and makes you want to show them the real you. But that's what happened with you Janie. From the moment I met you, I didn't want to play pretend, or put on a show, I just wanted to be me. And you let me be me. And I thank you for it. And I'm sorry I let you go. but most of all, I'm sorry I let you go without putting up some kind of fight for you."  
Her mouth fell open in shock and she shut it quickly, staring down at a checkered patten on the table cloth "what happened wasn't all your fault Norman." she said softly "I was stupid, and jealous, and lashed out at you over insecurties that I've carried around with me for a long time. And that wasn't fair of me." she sighed "there's something I haven't been completely honest with you about. But you deserve to know"  
"tell me." he replied  
"I didn't just leave Texas because I wanted to get away from my family. I left Texas because I was young and naive and fell in love a guy who I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with. He was charming, and a smooth talker, and good looking. He was smart and ambicious and I thought that he valued me for being the same way. But it turned out that he was married. Everything he'd told me about himself was a lie. I was from a small town, and he was influential, so when word got out about the affair, instead of owning up to it he dragged my name through the mud and made me look like I was some stupid college girl with a helpless crush on a college professor. I was heart broken, and ashamed, and embarrassed. So as soon as the opportunity arose, I moved, I wanted a fresh start. But it left me with a skeptical outlook on anyone who tried to show me any affection at all. I went through a phase, where I used men, before they could use me. and when I became ashamed of that, I just bore down on my residency and swore off love and romance altogether. Since then, I've dated a few men, but no one that made me feel as raw and emotional as you. And it scared me. I think part of me was just looking for an excuse to break it off, because I don't believe in the kind of relationships you see on tv or read in books. But you made me want to believe in it. And I ran. The first chance I got. And I'm sorry."  
"Jesus. We're both screwed up aren't we?"  
She laughed lightly "I guess that's one way to put it."  
"So..." he put the pepper shaker down and took her hand instead "what if we tried again? "  
She sighed "You don't know how much I want to just say yes."  
"but?" he asked  
"Getting over you has been so hard. If I'm honest, I've never really gotten over you. The last two months have been hell for me, and I'm finally starting to reach a place where I feel alittle bit of peace. I'm not sure I'm ready to take another chance on..." she trailed off, staring down at the table  
"on us?" he asked softly, finishing for her  
"on anybody." she corrected, pulling her hands away "I'm sorry."  
"Me too." he replied "I thought the best way to deal with our break up was to just distance myself from you. But I should have been proving to you that I wanted you in my life."  
"It's probably for the best." she tried to smile at him "That night with Naomi-"  
"She is nobody." he interupted  
"I wasn't going to start that. I was going to agree with her. Well, not completely agree with her, because I still think she's a stupid slutty tramp-" she trailed off and was rewarded with a smile from Norman, so she continued "I meant how she implied that we really had no business being together. It was fun, but we're so different. You've got your career, and I have mine. I thrive on stability, where you live off chaos. You are born to embrace the world and thrive in the limelight. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm happy that you're loved so much by so many people. But I like privacy and I'm slighty boring."  
"The last thing I would ever descibe you as, is boring." he corrected.   
"My idea of a fun time is just curling up on the couch with a good movie and a bottle of wine and shutting out the world"  
"Who could blame you? I live in a make believe world where you see real tragedy everyday. Yeah, we're different, but we're also a lot a like. Ambitious, caring, headstrong, stubborn. But we'd bend over backwards for the people we care about. And I'm sitting here right now Janie, right now, on purpose, telling you that I care about you. Hell I probably more than care about you. And it scares the fuck out of me. That's why I really stayed away. but it wasn't as easy to forget about you as i thought it would be. And the more you talk like you are, the more afraid I'm going to be walking out of here worse off than when i walked in."  
"Maybe we should start off just being friends. We never really tried that before."  
He leaned back in the booth and studied her "I have enough friends."  
"Are you giving me an ultimatium? A relationship or nothing at all?"  
"not really an ultimatium. Just stating facts. I'll never be able to regard you as just a friend. I could never sit back and watch you be happy with someone else, like I do with my other friends. And I don't look at my other friends and think about how I can't wait to undress them and put my hands all over their naked body."  
She blushed deep, at his last comment "The sex was fantastic, wasn't it?" she agreed softly  
"It wasn't just about the sex."  
"I know." she sighed deep "Everything you said, I agree with. I don't see a friendship working out for us either. I'd be too jealous thinking about you bedding some other woman."  
"For the record, I haven't bedded anyone, since you."   
She looked at him in surprise  
"what?" he asked  
"That's not the impression I was given."  
"I'm an actor. I'm good at making people believe things that aren't true." he shrugged "but I'm not acting now."  
"I know." she replied, and when he looked at her she shrugged "you fidget when you're uncomfortable, if it was an act, you'd be sitting there cocky and confident."  
"I'm anything but, right now."  
"also noted." she agreed as Rose reappered at the table with the very large deep dish pizza   
"here you two go. Can I get you both anything else? Another beer?"  
Norman looked at Janie and shrugged "sure, for both of us, thanks Rose."  
"Be right back Dear." she nodded, walking back towards the bar  
"This pizza looks incredible." Janie changed the subject on purpose, staring at the pizza sitting before them "you're right, this is nothing like the little shops that call themselves Chicago Style."  
"see? I do know what i'm talking about sometimes."  
"sometimes" she agreed with a grin, thanking Rose, who returned with another bottle of beer for each of them  
"good thing you two are both staying at the hotel." she commented "I just heard on the news that the weather is so bad they are shutting down the airport"  
"seriously?" Janie glanced up in shock  
"that's what they're reporting. Suposed to get even worse overnight." she added, as she walked away "hollar if you need anything else."  
"I jumped at the chance to get out of town for a few days, but this weather makes me miss home." Janie sighed  
"when are you suposed to go back?" he asked curiously, serving them both a slice of pizza  
"well, my plane was suposed to leave tomorrow, but I guess it's all up in the air now. Or...not in the air, depending on the weather."  
"Southern sunshine has you spoiled."  
"oh yes, I forgot I'm talking to a New Yorker. You probably live for this cold crap."  
"Not really, but I've definally seen worse." he agreed "If you need help staying warm tonight, though, let me know."  
She couldn't help but laugh out loud "I'll keep that in mind. Although I don't have access to the penthouse."  
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a keycard "you do now."  
"Norman, I was-" she trailed off, blushing hard  
"I'm just leaving your options open for you. what you choose to do with it is totally up to you. God I'm starving" he adding, taking a bite of pizza, effectively ending the conversation.


	9. Chapter 9

Her heart was pounding as she paced back and forth in front of the elevator, trying to talk herself out of making a decision she knew would be coming directly from the heart and, well, other parts of her body that need not be mentioned. Norman had walked her back to the hotel, and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, not pushing for more, but his parting words along the lines of if she wanted him, she knew how to access him, literally, had pulled at her heart. In her mind she knew the best thing she could do was go back to her own room, take a sleeping pill, and put this cold snowy night behind her. But she didn't want too. It wasn't just that she wanted to have sex with him, part of her knew that she'd always want to have sex with him; that was a no brainer. But she had so many other questions for him still. And God she missed him. Sitting with him in that restaurant tonight, it was like teaser previews to what might turn out to be a really good movie, or might turn to shit, but until she saw it, she wouldn't know. And Janie wanted to know. Determindly she hit the button on the elevator and when it opened she swiped the key card for the penthouse, feeling her heart beating so hard she was surprised it wasn't noticeable through her clothes. When she stepped off the elevator, she had to fight the urge to step back on, but instead took a deep breath and walked to his door, knocking softly. It was almost as if he'd been waiting, because she didn't have a chance to take two steps back if she were to change her mind, before the door opened.

He stood before her, in a pair of jeans and blue sweater that brought out the color in his eyes. He studied her for a second, and then he smiled, opening the door wider to let her inside  
"You had me worried. I thought maybe you wouldn't show after all." he greeted  
"I almost didn't." she admitted "I went back to the room to change, and almost talked myself out of it."  
"but you're here anyway."  
"I'm here anyway." she repeated. She'd changed, from her business clothes to a soft knit green sweater and a pair of jeans that hugged her ass in all the right places. He couldn't help but admire that ass as it bent slightly to put the keycard on the coffee table.  
"Can I get you anything to drink?" he asked, breaking the spell that seemed to have him glued to her every movement  
"what are you having?"  
He held up a bottle of Jack and she wrinkled her nose  
"I'll stick with beer."  
He nodded and grabbed a bottle from his fridge before walking back over to her along with the bottle of Jack and a small tumbler for himself, gesturing to the couch "have a seat."  
She sat down, feeling her body sink into the soft leather "This is much nicer than the room the hospital set me up with." she joked  
He laughed lightly "well, to be honest, every hotel around here is booked up because of the comic convention, and your medical convention, and the weather." he gestured out the big picture windows to the snow falling outside "I wasn't left with much choice about rooms."  
"You weren't originally scheduled to be at the comic convention" It was a statement, not a question, and she stared at him as she took a drink from her bottle, watching as he poured himself a shot and downed it quickly  
Finally he looked at her "No. I only made myself available a few weeks ago. After I found out that you had a medical convention the same weekend."  
She appreciated his honesty, felt flattered by it, but also confused "how did-?" she trailed off, as the realization hit her "Jeff."  
She and Jeff still talked on occassion, through twitter and email mostly, but sometimes texts, and he would have seen her talking about going to Chicago the medical convention.  
He nodded "he did inform me that you would be in town."  
"I'm sure it made fans happy to have you added last minute." she observed  
"I was told I turned the convention into an insane circus but the show runners were happy to have me." he agreed  
"I'm slightly flattered." she mumbled  
"I had my own selfish reasons." he shrugged, studying her "I wanted to see you."  
"You had plenty of chances to find me, a lot closer to your own back yard." she pointed out  
"You blocked my number." he acccused  
"After a few weeks yes." she admitted "looking at it everyday was torture, not hearing from you make it that much harder. It was more to stop myself from contacting you than the other way around."  
"Are you going to unblock me?"  
"I'm not sure yet." she replied honestly, standing up from the couch and walking over to look out the big picture windows at the falling snow "this all seems so fairytale-ish. You coming here, finding me, the snowstorm." she turned to study him now "how do I know this is real?"  
"I guess you don't." he stood up, crossing to her, and put his arms on either side of her body, so that she was blocked between him and the window "i guess you just have to trust that it is."  
She licked her lips nervously "I'm a little less trusting these days."  
"of me?"  
"of myself." she mumbled  
"I'm going to try something. Don't hit me ok?"  
"ok."  
He leaned his body into hers, so that his face was inches from hers, and finally, he brushed his lips across hers in a light kiss. He moved to pull away, but she grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him back to her, kissing him more passionately. His arms went from being braced around her to embracing her, pulling her into his body and deepening the kiss. She could feel his hands sliding up the back of her sweater, they felt cool on her hot skin from where they'd been pressed against the window moments before. She broke away, buring her head in his chest, trying to calm her breathing  
"Well, at least you didn't slap me." he tried to sound humorous, but she could tell that he was having an emotional time too.  
She smiled into his chest "you deserved that slap."  
"I did." he was rubbing her back, holding her close, and it felt so good. It would be so easy to just give in to him, to have a night of hot, passionate sex. But it wouldn't solve anything. And all the effort she'd put into getting over him, would be gone. She was fooling herself. She knew it. She wasn't over him. She'd never be over him. But she wasn't sure being under him was the answer either.  
"You're thinking something." he observed, noticing the change in her body, and he pulled away enough to study her "what is it?"  
"You didn't invite me up here to over analyze." she shook her head, trying to blow off the negative thoughts going through her head "can I have another drink?"  
"Of course." he moved to walk to the little kitchen but she stopped him, nodding to the bottle on the coffee table  
"I'll take that."  
He nodded, and grabbed another glass, walking back over to hand it to her. He noticed her hand was shaking slightly as he poured her a drink, which she downed immediately, and held the glass back out to him. He refilled it dutifully, before filling is own again  
"want to tell me what's going through your brain?" he asked, taking a drink while he studied her  
"I can't go into this blindly again." she sighed, sitting down on the couch "i'm sorry. I know that's not what you wanted to hear and again, not why you invited me up here"  
"You keep mentioning that." he sat down next to her "tell me why you think it is that I invited you up here"  
"we're grown adults. for sex." she blushed. She finished her drink and sat the empty glass on the table, before pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, sinking into herself  
"I'm definately up for sex with you at anytime, but that's not why I invited you here." he corrected "I thought we might have alittle more privacy and comfort here, than inside a dark pizza restuarant in Chicago." he almost sounded angry as he stood up "If I wanted to seduce you, I would have done it long ago."  
"then what do you want from me?" she asked him "why am I even here?"  
"I don't know" he swallowed hard "I just want you."  
"But what does that mean?" she asked "I'm not trying to be overly analytical, but the vague terms drive me nuts. I never thought I'd be one that needed labels but maybe I do. Maybe that's just part of me being in the medical field. I know there are no gaurantees in life, but -"  
"but you want clarification of where we stand and my feelings for you." he interupted "you want to know if it will be like last time, or if we're just fucking: or if we're serious, or if I call you my girlfriend is that just a generic label. I get it."  
"basically." she mumbled  
"The thing is, if I profess you to be my girlfriend to the world, if we went public, that's it for you. No more privacy. I won't be able to protect you from papparazzi, I won't be able to protect you from internet blogs that say mean shit about you and pick you apart, from people telling you they hate you just because you're with me. That's what you'll be dealing with. Everyday. You'll be ridiculed on social media. You'll be approached by random people with cameras.-"  
"I don't need you to protect me from the world."  
"you don't get it. I've been through this dozens of times. And everytime it's ended up the same way. People I date, they can tolerate it for awhile, but eventually they get tired of feeling like they're living under a microscope. They get tired of never having privacy, and then they get resentful. Because that's my life, and as much as I try to keep private things private, they have ways of getting out."  
"What are you so afraid is going to get out? she asked curiously "are you embarrassed of me?"  
"that's what you think?"  
"what else am I suposed to think?"  
"Not that."  
"Then talk to me. Please. For once, let's just have a conversation where we lay it on the line and we're real with each other. "  
"you want to know what i'm afraid of?"  
"I asked didn't I?"  
"yeah. you did." he glared at her "I'm afraid if we start putting labels on things, if we start saying things like I love you-" he didn't give her a chance to respond at his choice of words "once that shit get out, I'm afraid that you'll grow tired of my lifestyle, you'll get tired of the fact that I'm gone half the year, that i'm always busy, that I can't devote as much time to you as you deserve, that women show up randomly and grope me, and eventually, just tired of me. And you'll leave."  
"That wouldn't happen-"  
"It always happens!" he exclaimed swiping the bottle, this time drinking straight from it as he walked back towards the window  
"So you'll tell thousands of random people that you love them, but you're not willing to take a risk on a real relationship with the one person who wants you for you? Not for your fame, but for who you are." Her voice broke "I've seen your faults, I know that you snore sometimes and talk in your sleep. I know you're neurotic about things that most people don't think twice about. I know you worry about your hair and your appearance and looking good for the public, but that you're sexiest when you just wake up with bedhead-"  
"So you know things about me that lovers do. What's your point?" he interupted impatiently  
"My point." she glared at him as she stood up "Is that we were more than lovers. We loved each other. we still do . And you know it. And now you're trying to push me away with some lame ass shit about pappazzri and protecting me. And it's bull that you didn't invite me up here just for sex. You're pissed off because it turned into a real conversation about our feelings, and you don't want to own up to yours. So if I walk out that door right now without you telling me what I need to hear from you, don't come after me again. Because the only thing I need protection from, is more heartbreak."  
They stared at each other for several seconds, the silence stretching between them, before she sighed "have a good life Norman. I hope you find the happiness you're looking for." she moved quickly then, her hand turning the doorknob to exit the room before she felt him behind her, slamming it shut, pinning her almost up against it from behind. She refused to turn around and acknowledge him, instead waiting for him to say...something. She wasn't even sure what.  
"you'll need the key to access the elevator." he mumbled finally, sliding it into her hand  
A hard sob escaped from her mouth before she could stop it and she pushed away from him, wrenching the door open and half running down the hall to the elevator, swiping it quickly, frowning when it didn't register. She tried again, and when it failed she pounded on the elevator door in frustration, turning back to see him watching her  
"yeah that's your key card. I swiped it from your back pocket." he informed her calmly  
"you son of a bitch!" she exclaimed, coming towards him, ready to pounce, but he caught her hand mid air and held it to his body, hooking an arm around her waist and hauling her back into the room, slamming the door behind them.  
"You really think I'd let you walk out of here after that?" he mumbled in her ear in a low growl, which sent shivers up her spine  
"let me go." she replied stiffly  
"no fucking way." he turned her so that they were facing each other, but he still had her barricaded against the door, and he studied her "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of taken it so far. maybe I was trying to test you to see if you'd leave"  
"Did I pass your little fucking test?" she asked bitterly  
"With flying colors." he mumbled, using his free hand to wipe away a tear that had stained her cheek "so you love me?"  
"Stupid of me I know."  
"Very." he agreed "Ironic as seeing the smartest thing I could ever do, is love you."  
Her head snapped up then, searching his face, but he continued to caress hers lightly, then down her neck "I do Janie.You were right, about everything. I love you, and it scares the shit out of me, but not as much as losing you does."  
"You're not going to lose me."  
"you yourself said there are no gaurentees in life."  
"Right. And I gaurantee as long as you don't do anything stupid, you won't lose me."  
He laughed "well I can't promise to never do anything stupid."  
She smiled "well, as long as you promise to make up for stupid things then."  
"Can I start now then?" he asked, raising an eyebrow  
"I wish you would." she replied truthfully  
His hands were on her then, sliding through her hair, pulling her face to his, kissing her lips hard and throughly. She responded in kind, yanking at his shirt, pulling it up so his chest was exposed and he finally pulled it the rest of the way off. Her hands went to his chest, her fingers running down his smooth skin until they reached the button of his jeans. He took her hands, pinning them back up against the wall  
"what?"  
"If we don't slow down, it won't last long right now."  
"I don't want to slow down." she frowned  
He shook his head, leaning into kiss her again, but letting her arms go as he wound his own around her body and held her close to him, letting her feel that he was fully erect. her hands wandered down to cup him and she felt him grow tense, and she grinned  
"Bedroom, now." he ordered.  
She let him lead her into his bedroom silently, where he made short work of undressing her before pulling off his jeans himself. When she went to reach for him he stopped her  
"Seriously, this is going to be fast, and I want to be in you. Now."  
She nodded, crawling onto the bed and opening herself up to him, sighing in pleasure as he entered her. What he didn't realize was, she was just as hot and ready for him, and it felt like mere seconds before she was already reaching her climax. She heard him curse when she pulsed around him and then felt him meet his own release before collapsing on her. He tried to move away, but she liked the feel of his hard strong body on hers, and hooked her arms around him, to keep him that way, where she always wanted him to be.  
He pulled himself slightly up only long enough to ask her "you're going to unblock me now right?"  
She laughed hard and pulled him back to her "maybe."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this is a slightly cheesy ending chapter, but I'm so focused on my new story that I haven't had the time to devote to this one, and with the Holidays and work, not much time either. I hope the conclusion isn't too horrible, and I hope when I post my next story you guys like it as well. Thank you so much for all the kind words I received along the way with this first one.

Janie smiled to herself as she heard the sound of Normans motorcycle coming up the drive, and she added the finishing touches to the casserole she was making before turning to slide it into the oven, straightening up just as Norman entered the house, motorcycle helmet in hand, and he grinned at her as he neared, setting the helmet down on the kitchen island as he pulled her close  
"hey you." he greeted her, kissing her gently on the lips  
"hey yourself." she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back "how was your trip?"  
"good, but I'm glad to be back." he sighed, hugging her tightly "five days, felt like weeks."  
"I missed you too." she smiled, but laughed and wriggled out of his grasp when he began nuzzling her neck "stop, you know there's not enough time for that, everyone will be here soon."  
He pulled away with a sigh, and leaned back against the island, surveying the array of different arranged food trays and desserts, saw that the oven was lit up with food cooking "I'm sure they'll understand if we cancel."  
"No way buddy, I have worked way too hard on this to let you lure me out of it with some hot sex." she smacked him playfully with an oven mitt  
"why are we doing this again?" he asked, opening the refrigerator and taking out a bottle of beer, hopping up on the kitchen island as he watched her work  
"because, two of our friends are celebrating the fact that they are engaged" she pointed out, referring to Dave and Trixie, two of his musician friends that she'd grown to know and really like over the last five months, "and besides that, it will be fun to have everyone together for a dinner party, I haven't seen everyone together from the show in over a month, and the weather is perfect for a party."  
"how many people are you expecting?" he asked, eyeing the variety of meat that was meant for the grill  
She shrugged "I don't know, I invited people, and told them to invite people, and whoever you invited."  
"sounds like a hell of a night."  
"It will be fun." she assured him, then frowned, as she turned to study him "although you probably need to shower."  
He grinned as he slid off the island and walked towards her  
"are you implying I stink?"  
"I'm not implying anything, I'm saying it. I know you've been on the road and in the hot summer sun for the last few hours but you smell like it as well."  
"I thought you liked me dirty." he teased, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him tightly  
She laughed and pulled away "the dirtier the better, just not tonight."  
"Alright, but lets hurry up and get this party over with, so I can have you all to myself."  
"looking forward to it." she called after him, shaking her head as he disappeared down the hall to the shower, striping off his dirty clothes as he went.

~ ~~ ~

Several hours later, only a handful of people remained. Lena had to leave for a shift at the hospital, and Kaley was standing up to leave with her newest boyfriend Tom. There had been quite the turn out, and somehow the party had spilled out into the backyard, where Norman had started a fire, and now the few of them left, Jeff, Andy, Josh, and Mike, were sitting around having a few drinks and gossiping.  
"thank you for coming."   
Janie was hugging Kaley goodbye, and Norman couldn't help but observe how the woman he'd been seriously committed too the last nine months had fit so comfortable into his life, and how sweet and loved she seemed to be by everyone who had walked through the door tonight. She wouldn't of had to put on this party for Dave and Trixie, but she'd wanted too, even though her life was chaotic and he knew she was burning the rope at both ends between her own job and keeping up with his crazy schedule. It wasn't until he was gone on this last trip, and had people, random strangers, asking where she was as well, that it hit him that she'd officially been accepted into his life. She just had this way about her that made people want to embrace her, want to like her, or in his case, love her. Maybe it was the fact that she was so openly honest with everyone she met, that squashed the backlash that alot of his former girlfriends seemed to receive, or maybe it was the fact that she while she didn't shy away from public attention, she didn't seek it out either. She readily let people gush over him and then had normal conversations with them. She wasn't the jealous type, and even when it was hard, she'd supported his career, even when the project took him away for weeks or in some cases failed completely, she had been his rock.   
And maybe that's why the rock in his pocket felt so heavy tonight. He'd been carrying this ring around with him for a month, waiting for an opportunity to be alone with her, waiting for the right moment to ask her to marry him, but it occurred to him that there was never going to be a right moment, and suddenly this moment seemed right. In front of people they cared about, that would be happy for them. It terrified him too, that maybe she wasn't ready, and that she might say no, or only say yes because she felt pressured to do so in front of his friends. Would proposing now, be like doing it on one of those stupid sports cams or having it written in the sky? He should just wait, until they were alone, where if she wanted to reject him it would be in the privacy of the house, where he could lick his wounds in   
solitude.He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realize he was being addressed  
"what?" he asked, blinking as the world around him came into focus  
Jeff was grinning at him "still with us over there buddy?"  
"yeah." he rubbed his face tiredly "just thinking."  
"well don't hurt yourself too much." Jeff joked "it looked like you were in deep thought."  
"Be nice." Janie chided, and sat down next to Norman, taking his hand "the poor guy just looks exhausted from his trip. Can I get you anything?" she asked him  
"I'm good." he smiled at her  
"Well if you're offering, I'll take another beer." Mike spoke up  
"hey me too." Jeff added  
"hey, don't." Norman caught her hand as she stood up "these lazy fucks can get their own."  
"It's ok, I need to use the bathroom anyway.." she assured him, "although" she added as she began walking towards the house "I do agree you are all a bunch of lazy fucks."   
Their laughter followed her into the house, where she entered the kitchen and pulled out a few more bottles of beer, then decided that she should go ahead and put away the leftovers. Finally she freshened up in the bathroom and by the time she reappeared at the fire with a round of beer for everyone they had grown quite  
"are you all contemplating life right now or what?" she asked, feeling as if she'd just interrupted an intense conversation. She handed them each a beer, sensing the change in atmosphere "what's going on?"  
"we were just talking about life." Andy shrugged "how it can change so quickly."  
"deep conversation in a short period of time." she replied "what brought that on?"  
"drunk observations, that's all " Jeff spoke up  
"ok, well I'm going to let you guys go back to your observations, and i'm going to go finishing cleaning up the kitchen." she announced  
"No wait, I'll help you with that." Norman protested  
"It's ok." she assured him "It'll honestly take less time with you...not in the way."  
"thanks." he replied sarcastically  
She laughed and dropped a quick kiss on his lips "I meant it in the nicest way. You all have fun out here."  
"See ya Janie." they called after her, watching as she went back into the house  
Andy was the first to turn to Norman, who had just dropped the bomb that he wanted to ask Janie to marry him.  
"so when are you doing it? Now? Do it now."  
Norman smiled, glad he had all his friends support  
"I'm kind of scared shitless." he admitted the feeling he would normally never admit to these guys  
"of what?" Josh asked  
"What if she says no?"  
"That woman is not going to say no." Jeff pshhed at him "I mean, are you kidding me? She put up with your shit for how many months, and now you've lived together for seven?"  
"Actually eight." Norman corrected  
"well she's had over a year to cut and run if that had been her plan. The woman loves you. You know it, we know it, everyone knows it. Just do it." Jeff ordered  
"He's right, you know he is." Mike added  
"I'm not sure doing it in front of you guys is the way to go with it."  
"Then we'll leave." Jeff shrugged "but do it. Just do it."  
"you sound like a Nike commercial."  
"Nike isn't wrong."  
"ok now you just sound drunk."  
"I think I am, but I'm completely right."  
"I don't like to say Jeff is right." Andy interrupted the little tirad "but Jeff is right. Do it."   
"ok." Norman sighed  
"Do any of you want any of this food to take home?" Janie opened the back door and called out to them "there's enough for all of you."  
"Nah thanks Janie, we're actually going to head out." Jeff called back, and it was almost comical how all the men bolted up out of their chairs almost simultaneously   
"all of you?" she asked in surprise  
"it's late." Andy shrugged  
"ok." she stepped back down the porch steps and proceeded to hug each one of them in a tight embrace "Well it was good to see you all again, be safe ok?"  
"you too sweetheart." Jeff kissed her lightly on the cheek as they all began to file out towards the driveway   
"see you guys." Norman called after them  
"catch you in a few days." Andy replied, and moments later they had all made it to their cars  
"that was different, did I scare your friends away?" Janie asked, a small frown on her face as she watched them disappear one by one.   
"I'm surprised they haven't scared you away." Norman replied dryly, poking at the embers left of the fire, trying to spread it out enough that it would die out quickly  
"I've come to terms that you're all a package deal." she joked, he turned then, studying her intently, and she swallowed hard, feeling nervous at the change in his stance "what's going on with you tonight? you seem different, distracted."  
"Nothing, I guess I've just been doing a lot of thinking these last few days." he mumbled  
"that's what you've been talking about out here with your friends?" she guessed  
"yeah."  
"but you can't talk to me about it?" she raised an eyebrow  
"I needed manly advice." he mumbled, not really looking at her  
"oh my God." she stiffened and backed away from him slowly, her heart thumping in her chest "you want to break up with me, don't you?"  
"what? no. why would you think that?" he asked quickly  
"it just explains why you've been acting so distant tonight, and why your friends acted so weird..." she added  
"My friends always act weird." he pointed out  
"don't change the subject. are you...unhappy with us?"  
"No baby, I'm not unhappy with us." he sighed heavily, stepping closer to her  
"than what is it?"   
"I wasn't really prepared to have this conversation tonight."  
"ok, stop." she placed a hand on his chest "whatever is going on, you need to just tell me. you're weirdness is freaking me out."  
"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be weird about it." he replied "If anything, I was trying to be smooth about it."  
"how about you just be you about it and tell me what it is?" she suggested  
"look, Janie, here, sit." he pulled a chair out for her and she sat reluctantly, staring at him intensely, and he sighed "I was talking to the guys about how much you mean to me. And, how I wanted to ask you to marry me."  
She felt the breath rush out of her body, and it took a minute for her mouth to catch up with her mind "what?" she whispered  
She watched as he pulled a ring out of his pocket and squatted down beside her "Marry me, Janie."  
She was glad she was sitting, because she suddenly felt weak. "oh my God." she mumbled, staring at the beautiful diamond he was holding in front of her "are you serious?"  
"yes. Unless you say no, then I was just-"  
She cut off his sentence by lunging forward, embracing him tightly, and he could feel her body shaking slightly, and he wrapped his own arms around her, holding her just as tightly  
"Is this a yes?" he asked  
She laughed, pulling away only long enough to reach his lips with her own, kissing him "yes. of course yes."  
A weight he didn't realize he was carrying seemed to lift and he took her hand, sliding the ring on her finger "I was afraid you were saying no."  
"I was afraid you were breaking up with me."   
This time they both smiled at each other, and embraced again, holding each other tightly for several seconds , before the sound of a throat clearing brought them back to reality, and they both looked up to see Andy, Jeff, Josh and Mike standing there.   
"We parked down the street and walked back. We had to know." Jeff explained in an unashamed tone of voice  
Janie laughed and Norman groaned, but grinned as he watched her show all of his friends her ring, and felt peace over come him as he watched them each embrace her tightly. This is my life. He thought to himself, never feeling happier than he did right at that moment.


End file.
